The Hybrid Theory
by Silly Twin Stars
Summary: Something's up with Soul and Maka's resonance, and Soul is pretty sure he knows the cause, though he'll never admit it. A potential solution: hybrid resonance, transmitting their energy (and communication ability) through a third person. But when you might very possibly have feelings for your partner, and you don't want anyone to know, it's never safe to have anyone in the middle.
1. Stay The Night

**Author's Note:** I don't own Soul Eater! I don't own Linkin Park either, though this story does indeed bear a kinda strong (read: almost exact) resemblance to my favorite album of theirs. Kinda wish I did own them, though, cause then I could take Mike Shinoda out whenever I wanted and have him do way cool mixes for me at parties~

Also yes, I should probably mention... this is my first fic. Be gentle, but be honest. And above all, let me know what you think!

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**The Hybrid Theory**

_"Once the anchor of reason has been cut, one's craft may go anywhere." – Brand Blanshard_

_"Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope." – Epicetus_

Soul shuffled around in the dark of the apartment, not even bothering to lift up his feet as he dragged his body into the kitchen and collapsed into a chair. The seat creaked loudly in protest, matching the tone of every complaining muscle in his body. He dropped his head onto the table with an audible thunk.

He was hungry, and thirsty, and he could feel a myriad of other basic needs tugging at his psyche, but he couldn't move a damn muscle to satisfy any of them. So he didn't.

Resonance was exhausting. Despite its undeniably cool tendency to transform Maka and himself into a perfectly molded ass-kicking machine, the aftermath always left his head reeling and his body spent. Especially lately.

As much as Soul hated to admit it, something was up with their resonance link. Over the past few months, resonance had been getting more and more difficult to maintain. He didn't understand it.

He opened his eyes against the table, taking in each grain in the wood with his eyes; two pools of lava stagnating, pondering. He began to run over the past few months in his mind, digging through his memories, yet again, to figure out why this could be happening.

When they got ready to resonate, it still started the same as always. They'd do their hokey little "let's go, soul resonance!" bit. They'd get that kick-start of power, that incredible feeling made of one part strength, two parts confidence and trust, and that little hint of _intimacy_ that always knocked him a little breathless. (Not that he'd ever admit it; cool guys do _not_ lose focus and jump their shit over something as basic as soul resonance.)

Regardless, they'd throw their game faces on. Everything would be great. Pre-kishins dying, witches crying… perfectly fine.

And then something would slip. They would fall out of sync, somehow. They were still able to fight, but he could feel the break in their resonance gnawing at him. In almost every single battle these days, the entire thing inevitably went to shit.

Of course, then he had the pleasure of listening to Black*Star's 'advice' afterwards. Somehow the ninja's well-intentioned wisdom nuggets such as 'Even your resonance knows I'm the best, it quails beneath me!' or 'If you had bowed down to that shrine of me I gave you last year like I told you to do, this wouldn't be happening!' weren't making the problem any better.

In one way, Soul supposed it made sense. They'd both been training, constantly pushing each other. All they ever did was work harder to get continuously stronger. As such, the amount of energy they could produce and exchange had continued to build. Their souls were able to undertake more strain. So much energy, pent-up and transferred between the two of them at such a rate, was bound to start taking its toll eventually, right?

Maybe they'd plateaued. Perhaps this was the strongest they'd be able to get, at least for now. And now their resonance was paying the price.

There. Legitimate explanation.

_Of course, there _could_ be another reason for their recent resonance plight._

Soul squeezed his eyes tight, trying to push this evermore potent thought out of his mind.

The idea that he knew _full well_ why their resonance was failing had originally been oh-so-courteously dropped on him by that lecherous asshole of a demon, who Soul had subsequently informed that he should probably shut his _demonic pie-hole_ unless he wanted those stupid goat horns removed from his scalp and stuck in a much less comfortable place.

… But he knew that lately, the thought had started to come into his mind unbidden, without the demon's help.

He was fighting it. He fought it so damn hard.

Sighing, he folded his arms around his head on the tabletop and let out a slow, drawn-out breath.

He knew that this would screw everything up. It affected their resonance, it was true, but the alternative was absolutely inexcusable. She couldn't know, he wouldn't let it happen; wouldn't let it destroy everything they'd accomplished as a pair. He wondered now if she could feel the echo of it in their resonance, just before he clammed up and shut himself off. Cut off his end of the link, so she couldn't feel it when his mind started to gravitate away from the look of the fight and a lot more toward the way _she_ _looked while fighting._

It was his control that truly slipped, he knew. Resonance sent his mind into overdrive until it was all too much; her petite hands wrapped tightly around him, heart rates racing, that warm feeling in his chest like melted butter doused in flames that dripped through his chest and overwhelmed his senses as their souls merged together…

Yup, too much. Gah. Even thinking about it made his palms sweat.

He had to get a handle on it. What could he do, not resonate with her for the rest of his life? Obviously not an option.

_It's not like the dreams were helping, either_, he thought traitorously before he could stop himself.

No, damnit. He wouldn't think about it.

He wouldn't think about the dreams, those eyes, green and honest and perfect and boring into his, or that familiar echo of his desire in her hands as she _tugged him upwards and melded their lips together—_

"Soul?"

Soul's eyes went wide in shock against the surface of the table. He just managed to reign in his reaction enough to keep from jumping, much to the relief of his still-aching shoulder blades. Taking a deep breath and putting on what he hoped was an innocent face to replace his less-than-innocent reverie, Soul lifted his head up in silence and was greeted by the wavering smile and fidgety fingers of his meister.

She was worried about him again; he didn't even need to meet her gaze to see it. Wordlessly reaching an arm out to her, he watched as she smiled wider and began to tiptoe slowly over to him, finally bending down and wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders. He let out a breath, relaxing slightly in her proximity.

"It's three in the morning," she whispered, looking down at him. He could feel the concern radiating out of every inch of her, spreading all the way to the fingertips that rested warmly along his collar bone. It lessened the ache in his shoulders considerably.

He shrugged and said, "Couldn't sleep. Too much hurts."

Soul watched as the familiar crease formed between her eyebrows – the one where he's said something that's upset her, but not enough for her to comment. He rolled his eyes and tugged on the arm that rested against his shoulder.

"Aw, come on Maka, I'm fine," he said, throwing together his best attempt at a crooked grin, even though the tendons in his cheek didn't really seem to be capable of movement at that moment. "It's not like I don't know how to take a beating. I do live with you, after all," he added snidely, chuckling at how her fingers twitched against him, itching to grab the dictionary on the counter.

He smirked. He knew she wouldn't do it, not when they'd been fighting all day and she was already worried about finding him dead on the kitchen table in the middle of the night. One of the few advantages of his post-resonance hangover was the fact that he could bait her a little without any risk of getting chopped.

Not that he didn't bait her anyway. For Soul, messing with Maka was usually a bit like playing with a venus fly trap. Curiosity got him every time. He knew he'd get his hand bitten off if he messed with it, but he just couldn't help but poke and prod it a little, just to see what happened.

As a result, he'd discovered a little cranium pain was essentially always worth facilitating a reaction. The angry glint in her eye, the swiftness of her movements, the triumphant smile of retribution… it was when she was at her most sexy– _sensei!_ He meant sensei! 'Cause… 'cause it's cool to see how much she knows about fighting. So he could learn. Knowing about your meister's reflexes and stuff is useful for a weapon.

Yeah. Strictly professional. … Definitely, _definitely_ not sexy. Damn.

Maka stood up slowly and pulled up a chair next to him, resting her head on his shoulder gently. His body started to protest again but he beat the feeling back; he'd prioritize a nice platonic moment (_well, platonic for one of you, anyway_, his sleep-deprived brain chimed in, and he beat that back too) with his meister over a little discomfort any day. Particularly because it was relatively hard to ever feel close to her these days, with their resonance getting cut off every five minutes.

"It'll get better soon, I promise," she whispered, reading his mind. He watched her hands clench against the table. "I have a plan."

Soul sighed, drifting closer to sleep now that he had an extremely comfortable headrest not two inches from his face to lean against.

"And what would that be?" he yawned, rubbing his eyes with an arm. Hmm, maybe he _should_ go to sleep. A pro-con list involving soft mattresses compared with his bony, negative-four-percent body weight meister (_not like that would keep you from sleeping against her if she let you_, his subconscious chimed in again unprovoked) started to form in his mind.

Alright, heading to bed was officially a good plan. Sleep-deprived Soul was a bit too forward, it seemed, and sitting in the dark all crushed up against Maka was vexing enough for his self-control without all of these additional _ideas_ floating around in his brain.

She must have felt his body start to slump against her, because she slipped an arm around him again and slowly started to pull him upward.

"Wanna try to sleep? We have to be up for school in a couple hours," she said. The thought made him never want to leave the apartment again.

As she half-carried him to his room, he dimly remembered that she had mentioned a fix for their resonance problem, and he muttered sleepily, "What was your plan?"

She dumped him gently onto his bed and started to bunch his legs up, helping him slide under the covers like a babysitter watching an effing six-year-old, but somehow he found it difficult to mind.

"You'll see!" she whispered brightly, nudging him back against his pillows. "I've been talking to Stein."

He quirked a tired eyebrow at her. That couldn't be good.

She giggled softly, and slowly tucked in his covers on the side where she stood. Instead of reaching over him to tuck in the other side, she looked back up at him.

"Don't worry. I bet you'll think it's really cool," she smiled.

A little miffed that this whole little intimate tucking-in session had already come to a close, Soul merely grunted and shut his eyes.

"Seriously, it'll be cool," he heard her promise again. And then he was asleep.


	2. Aggregate

**Author's Note:** Woop woop, quick update! This chapter is on the shorter side, but chapter 3 should more than make up for it. Thanks for the follows/faves/reviews, guys. Huge motivator. Enjoy your introduction to hybrid resonance, friends~

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No. This wasn't cool at all.

Soul lay face down on the floor, trying not to pant and slobber all over himself as he tried to get his breath back and recover his cool all at once.

"You're still fighting it," Stein drawled for the millionth time, reaching back lazily to twist the giant screw appendage jutting out of his head. His stupid, science-is-great head. Filled with stupid ideas.

For all of Soul's spluttering and bitching about on the floor, Maka remained standing. Calm and stoic, she calculated the changes between her and Soul's wavelengths, and then subsequently her and Tsubaki's. Because that's what they'd been doing, what they'd spent all morning trying to make happen, and what _wasn't_ happening because Soul couldn't keep a damn handle on himself.

Or maybe he had too much of a handle on himself. He couldn't decide. Either way, it wasn't working.

He should've known from the beginning, ever since Maka had basically skipped into class behind Stein, with Kid and the twin pistols in tow. Her mouth had been stuck in this lottery-winning smile that had Soul especially worried, particularly because he had a sneaking suspicion that Stein had gotten the old scalpel out again.

Stein had dragged the trio to the front of the room, while Maka took a seat next to Soul, practically thrumming with excitement. The doctor had begun his normal morning drawl, which usually put Soul to sleep in a matter of seconds, especially after the previous evening when he'd chosen a kitchen table coma over actual bed rest. But that day, between Maka's agitated pencil taps and the way Kid kept absently rubbing his chest and glaring at Stein intermittently, Soul had found himself on edge, uncertain of what was about to proceed.

Everyone had been too damn excitable, and it was severely messing with his cool.

Stein had pulled out the chair behind his desk and straddled it, waiting for the class to settle in. He hadn't seemed to notice that most of the students were already regarding him warily, Soul most of all, eyes narrowed in nervous suspicion. Once the strained silence in the room had become almost painful, Stein had tapped his fingers against the table twice, rolling them slowly as he prepared for lecture mode. Soul thought his head might explode if the bastard didn't _get on with it already_, whatever it was.

"The bond between a weapon and a meister is incredibly strong," Stein finally said. "Strong enough that their wavelengths are able to connect, within a certain distance, through any medium. As long as they are close enough, their resonance is able to penetrate any surface. The strength of their souls, two energies combined, makes a team exponentially more powerful."

Soul scowled; Stein was telling them shit they'd learned years ago. Stein seemed to read his mind, however, because the doctor paused and answered this unspoken complaint.

"You all already knew this, it's true. But consider this. Not all meisters fight with just _one_ weapon, do they?"

Stein had paused for a moment to stare at the trio standing next to him, infected momentarily with a wide eyed, please-let-me-examine-you-more expression that prompted Liz to tug a giggling Patty behind her in thinly veiled alarm.

At the same time, Kid had rubbed his chest again over what Soul had begun to suspect might be a _soul-sized incision_, give or take an inch. Exasperated, he wondered vaguely about the hiring procedures for Shibusen employees. Surely this shit couldn't be legal. Images of his zombie and mummy professors popped into Soul's mind, followed by a brief recollection of Medusa's ability to infiltrate the Academy all too easily once upon a time.

Yeah, human resources could definitely use a makeover.

As Stein had returned to what was sure to be a long-winded explanation, Soul's thoughts rebounded from pensive to _incredibly tense_.

"For the Thompsons, who share an almost identical wavelength, it makes sense that Kid would be able wield them as a single weapon. Their resonance is strong and pliable, perfect for a weapon and meister pair. But the fact remains: Liz and Patty aren't one single weapon, are they? They're two separate entities" – Liz scowled heavily at this highly impersonal analysis – "And something in Death the Kid's soul has enabled him to combine their separate wavelengths; to steady and morph their separate energies into one effective combat tool. It's a unique feat that is difficult to accomplish, no matter how alike Liz and Patty's soul wavelengths may be."

Soul had frowned, casting a frustrated glance at Maka, who was still anxiously tapping a pencil against the top of her wrist. It confused him that she was still hanging on to Stein's every word. He failed to see how this applied to them; so what if Kid could accommodate Liz and Patty's freakishly similar wavelengths? Maka, sensing his apprehension, ceased her tapping and placed a hand on his forearm to mollify him. It had the opposite effect. He tried very hard to ignore the tingling sensation that spread up his arm as a result.

"There is a concept in chemistry called a resonance hybrid," Stein had continued. "When two atoms resonate, they are sometimes connected by a third atom, which acts as a stabilizing agent. An anchor, if you will. With this crutch in place, the two atoms are able to build up greater and greater energy while the third atom transmits and attempts to ground their energy. The two atoms therefore have a greater potential for resonance when they're attached to a hybrid."

Soul narrowed his eyes, beginning to understand where this was going. This wasn't good at all.

"For this team, Death the Kid acts as the resonance hybrid. However, through a series of… sessions…" – Stein grinned and the trio grimaced simultaneously – "I have discerned that this technique may not be limited to Kid and his two weapons. There is a possibility that hybrid resonance could work between any weapon and meister pair. So, those of you that have been having problems with your resonance, listen carefully."

He had regarded Soul and Maka with curiosity, filling the silence that had followed his speech with several resounding clicks as he twisted the bolt once more. Slowly, he had spoken, delivering the words that might as well have been Soul's death sentence.

"We're going to see how your resonance fares… if we throw a third soul into the mix."


	3. Love Lockdown

**Author's Note: **Don't own Soul Eater! ... but I do make shameless plugs for the songs that I like in my chapter titles! Ask me how many times I've listened to Love Lockdown as inspiration for this chapter. So relevant! If you're looking for some tunage to accompany your read, may I suggest DJ Earworm's 'Reckoner Lockdown' which includes a sweet mashup with a Radiohead song. Either way, enjoy! 8) Thanks again for the follows & reviews!

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Soul held his breath, nodding slowly at Tsubaki and Maka, whose fists were both clenched in concentration.

"On the count of three?" Maka asked, flexing her fingers slowly. Despite his anxiety, Soul grinned; he was endlessly amused by this unconscious little twitch she did when she wanted him to change into scythe form. Of course, it also got him thinking about the possibility of her gripping _other things_, which he really shouldn't be thinking about before–

"Here we go," said Tsubaki, and Soul gritted his teeth and transformed before his preoccupations made themselves known through his nasal passages.

"Hybrid resonance!" the girls shouted, Soul chiming in late, and with visibly less vigor. He felt the pull of resonance tugging at him, and tried valiantly not to dig in his heels as their wavelengths merged and beckoned to his, bluish light lining his eyes as placid flames while the resonance threatened to build.

He took a deep breath and started to let go, inch by inch, double-checking his emotions every second, reciting thoughts like "this is simple," and "this is nothing" and particularly "don't blow it, asshole" as a mantra.

But then, despite his best intentions, their wavelengths connected and he couldn't handle it. He felt Maka's presence like a train wreck. Their resonances were too close, too strong, too _perfect_, and suddenly he had a face full of linoleum once more. He heard Maka's strangled sigh of frustration.

As usual, he looked up at Tsubaki, searching for a sign, looking for any dawning realization in her eyes, but he saw nothing. The now-familiar rush of relief that swept over him was immediate. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, trying to help him steady his gasping breaths.

"It would be easier if you could hear each other, I know," she said, trying to console him.

Yes, that was the one fan-fucking-_tastic_ side effect of hybrid resonance that they'd discovered this morning. Sometimes he really resented being Stein's perpetual guinea pig.

It was a strange paradox; although resonance felt stronger than ever, their communication had been inexplicably cut off. Stein had formulated some half-hearted hypotheses about resonance and proximity and a bunch of other shit that Soul hadn't really listened to. Either way, only Tsubaki could hear him now. He felt like he should be relieved about this, but he couldn't bring himself to feel any sort of respite. Though this took Maka out of the direct line of fire, he still had the task of keeping everything under wraps while under the influence of a stronger, _sexier_ resonance level.

If he let something slip, he knew Tsubaki would spill the beans in a second. He was doomed.

This was quickly becoming Soul's least favorite type of resonance, including the time he'd been on the wrong end of Kid, Liz and Patty's resonance during their first meeting. Well, maybe it was still better than scream resonance. Every time Ragnarok and Crona pulled that shit, Soul had a headache for a week. He paused and glanced around the room. Where was Crona, anyway?

"Maybe it's time to try with a different hybrid," Stein mused, taking the smallest of drags from his cigarette. "It seems like Soul and Tsubaki's wavelengths might not be as compatible as we'd hoped."

Soul glanced up apologetically at Tsubaki from his tile mausoleum, and she smiled down at him, clearly unoffended, as Maka came over and kneeled next to them, helping pull Soul to his feet.

"It might make sense to try it with someone who you both know equally well," Stein said slowly. "Someone who you… maybe… grew up with, for example. Someone who's seen you fight, knows your wavelengths… someone who might help you _surpass_ this little roadblock." Stein's lips twitched slightly.

Soul went still as everyone's eyes flashed to the clear subject of Stein's monologue.

Oh no. God, seriously, anyone but–

"What?! No way in hell am I gonna be anyone's hybrid bitch! I'm way too big a star for that," yelled an indignant blue head of hair from the back of the room. "Do I look like Soul and Maka's resonance lapdog? If anything, it should be _Soul_ that hybrids for me and Tsubaki!"

Soul rolled his eyes, but breathed an internal sigh of relief. The idea of Black*Star hearing anything hidden in his brain was a rather horrifying prospect that Soul was all too eager to avoid.

"It's cool, we'll try with Tsubaki again," Soul said in a rush, realizing just how preferable it was to have the infinitely more tight-lipped chain scythe as a resonance partner. "Ninth time's the charm, maybe?"

"But it's not working with Tsubaki, Soul," Maka said, looking hopefully at Black*Star. "We should at least give it a try. He does know us pretty well."

_Yeah, that's the problem_, Soul thought, busying himself with making scuff marks on the floor with his shoe instead of looking at his meister. Black*Star saved him the trouble of answering.

"Not gonna happen, Maka. Tell Soul to grow a pair and actually resonate. It's not my problem."

"Watch yourself, Black*Star," Soul growled, demon eyes snapping up from the ground. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"All I know is that it's _you_ that ends up crying like a fuckin' pansy on the floor every time, so it must be _your fault_ that it's not work–"

**"Enough."**

Everyone stopped and stared at Stein; Black*Star even had the decency to look a little sheepish. Maka just looked pissed; she was staring daggers at Soul and Black*Star, which only served to darken Soul's scowl. _I'm doing this for your own good, you know,_ he muttered in his mind, glaring back at her in plain defiance.

Stein surveyed the class unblinkingly for a moment, his normally neutral expression taking on a hint of condescension.

"Let me make something painfully clear to you," Stein said lazily, though Soul could hear the hidden threat in his voice. "Has anyone noticed who's not with us today?"

Everyone started to glance around, taking mental roll, but Soul already knew. Dread filled the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong.

"Crona. Crona's missing," said Maka slowly, just when Soul was about to speak. He glanced back over at her. All of the anger had vanished from her face. He knew she'd already figured out that this was bad.

"Yes," Stein said, his mouth forming a thin line. "And we don't know much about it. But I'm not telling you anything we _do_ know until the three of you can make hybrid resonance happen."

Soul could feel the entire room's eyes latch onto him. They knew that Black*Star had been right, that he was the weak link in the chain. Damn him, Stein was making them all pay for Soul's weakness. What an effective tactic, Soul thought, bitterly impressed. He had no choice now. He scowled again, seething at the whole situation – making best friends with the floor all morning, Black*Star acting like a world-class asshole, Stein making him feel like shit, all so that Maka wouldn't–

Maka. Their eyes met, hers starting to gloss over from a mélange of quiet determination and worry for her friend, and Soul felt his heart constrict. He sighed defeatedly. He couldn't refuse her when she was like this… well, he couldn't refuse her _ever_, but especially not now, when she looked so serious and vulnerable. It was probably a weapon instinct – _No it isn't, don't kid yourself_, his subconscious retorted – but either way, he knew he was strong enough to make resonance work _and_ keep Black*Star in the dark. He had to be.

"Okay, weaklings, let's do this," Black*Star said, hopping down from his perch at the back of the class and sauntering down to meet them. "And Soul. How about you actually try this time?"

Soul grimaced again, but he bit back a comment and settled for rolling his eyes instead. He shoved his hands in his pockets. Black*Star stood next to him, arms behind his head in his usual display of superiority. Tsubaki squeezed Maka's shoulder and backed up to give the three of them room. With one last look at Maka, Soul transformed, feeling the current of resolve humming between them, even without resonance.

_Here goes nothing_, he thought. He would do this, for Maka and Crona and even goddamn Stein, whose opinion of him actually mattered for some damn reason. Black*Star grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"Hybrid resonance!" they yelled, and Soul shoved down his barrier, hoping for the best.

He felt his control splinter and break, overwhelmed with the potency of Black*Star's wavelength. Rather than the cloying, prodding presence that Tsubaki's had been, Black*Star's resonance overtook Soul like a tidal wave, demanding his attention. He had no choice but to let himself be dragged forward, the strength of the ninja's wavelength forcing him into compulsion.

It was like being grabbed by the collar and thrown headfirst into a black hole; spots started to form at the corners of his eyes, the familiar blue flames that licked at his consciousness taking on a stronger, more urgent hue than he'd ever seen before. He couldn't feel Maka's wavelength at all, only Black*Star's, pulling him, commanding him, exercising its duress. By the way Maka's knuckles had turned white against him, he imagined she was also bearing the rude shock of Black*Star's resonance. Her jaw set, teeth clenched together.

Soul felt like he was teetering on the edge of something, and just after he came to this realization, he felt the world pitch forward. What was happening? He lost his sense of self completely. He couldn't see, couldn't hear; he hung suspended in midair, helpless and weightless.

Everything stopped. This wasn't like the room in his mind; it was too empty, too listless. Hell, there wasn't even a room at all. He couldn't feel anyone's resonance, or anyone's presence. Even the demon was conspicuously absent. He was utterly alone. What had Black*Star done? He wondered how long this unfortunate, vacant limbo could possibly last.

And then he heard it; a resounding click, like the sound of the second hand on a grandfather clock, falling into place and echoing into the silence.

He hadn't been ready for it. Maka's wavelength slammed into him, sending his mind into a frenzy. For a moment, he felt a pinch of insanity in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite place; then, it vanished and all he could feel was _her_. Her resonance filled every crack in his armor, shooting through his body with a sweet rush of electric pain. He knew she could feel him now, sensing the intensified hum of the current that passed between them as it spiraled and strengthened, two ribbons wrapping together and pulling taut, igniting in blue flame.

His every awareness of her was heightened. Every shade of green reflected in her eyes, from lightest jade to the darker flecks of forest green that burned with the intensity of resonance, complemented flushed cheeks that matched the color of her lips, the bottom of which she was worrying with her teeth. God, she looked perfect; he'd turn down all of the gold in Shinigami's vault just to be the one to bite that lip–

Fuck. Soul stopped cold, wrenching himself out of resonance so desperately that he fell out of his scythe form, knocking Maka down with him. He prepared for another chance meeting with the classroom floor as everything else revolved around him in slow motion. As he grappled with his balance, pulling himself behind Maka to take the brunt of the fall, his eyes sought out Black*Star's, hoping against all hope that he'd missed it, that he hadn't heard...

The wicked amusement in the ninja's eyes was inescapable. They stared at each other, Black*Star's smug comprehension against Soul's utter horror, and then Soul hit the floor, back smacking against the tile with enough force to draw a strangled "oof" out of both of him and Maka.

He looked up at her; she seemed unharmed, aside from being a little shaken by the strength of their resonance. She didn't seem to suspect anything.

The same certainly _wasn't_ true of their hybrid partner, whose eyes were glinting like Christmas had come early and his first present had been a package full of the biggest, juiciest news to hit Shibusen in years. Damage control was a necessity. Soul jumped up and seized Black*Star by the shoulders, propelling him out of the room.

"If you'll just give us a minute," Soul growled, slamming the door shut just in time to mask the ninja's snicker.


	4. Commence the Cruciation

**Author's Note: **Don't own a thing, except for this horribly cruel continuation of Soul's embarrassment. Ah well, he can take it! Plus, the torture's only begun :) Enjoy~

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The path to hell was tedious and slow-moving.

They staggered down the hall, Soul's grip like a vice on Black*Star's shoulder while Black*Star chortled, stopping every few feet to double over in laughter. Soul was torn. He could stop every time and let this continue, thereby delaying one of the more undesirable conversations of his life, or he could get the loudmouth as _far the hell away_ from that classroom door as possible in case his guffawing evolved into actual coherent mocking. He dragged Black*Star down the hallway with renewed enthusiasm.

He didn't even want to think about going back to class. Shit, he'd just walked out on Stein in the middle of a lesson. Not to mention the rest of the class. Maka was probably taking mental inventory on the heaviest books in the apartment. The chops he could handle, though he was glad he'd just hidden her encyclopedia set. Stein would punish him too, that was obvious; Soul just hoped it ended up being a detention rather than a _dissection_, since he seemed to be so fond of those lately.

But he had more pressing matters to worry about at the moment, like how he was going to get this loose-lipped son of a bitch to keep mum.

He finally found an empty classroom and yanked Black*Star inside. He shut the door, preparing for the worst and turning to glare at his best friend. He wouldn't back down, damnit. No matter how much Black*Star milked this, he wouldn't react.

Silence descended. They regarded each other for a moment as Black*Star's laughter faded into a stupidly irritating grin. The seconds stretched between them.

"… All the gold in Shinigami's vault, huh?" Black*Star finally said, leering.

Soul felt his face heat up. Shit, this would be harder than he thought. Fighting the urge to crawl into the deepest, darkest hole he could find, he tried to keep his expression blank. Black*Star, on the other hand, propped his feet up on a desk and put his hands behind his head with a greedy smile, reveling in the torment.

"So, Soul's got the hots for Maka," he said conversationally, looking around the room as though this information wasn't the least bit interesting to him. The glint in his eye couldn't be hidden, however. "The Amazing Black*Star already knew this, but it's good to have confirmation."

Soul threw on his best aloof face; he knew this was the only thing that might save him.

"I don't know why you're so worked up about this; it was just the resonance talking. Come on man, you know this happens. That primal shit comes out sometimes, it has nothing to do with her," he said, folding his arms. "It's not a big deal."

Exactly, it had nothing to do with her, except for the fact that it wasn't like he walked around thinking about _biting people's lips_ all of the time, though maybe Black*Star didn't know that. Sort of like how maybe he didn't know that his own hair was blue, or that kishins are evil, or that Soul was _very clearly_ lying through his extra-pointed, extra-dishonest teeth.

"Oh of course, it's not a big deal," Black*Star agreed smoothly. "It's such a _small_ deal, actually, that you dragged me halfway across the school and threw me in a dark room so I wouldn't talk." He raised a skeptical eyebrow, shaking his head. "_And_ you cut off resonance so I wouldn't hear the rest of your thou-"

Soul didn't think it was possible, but the ninja's smirk grew even more pronounced. Soul gulped. Black*Star was a few souls short of a death scythe, as it were, but he wasn't a total idiot.

"_That's_ why your resonance is in the shitter?! 'Cause you can't even help yourself! And if you don't stop it, she'll hear you! Oh _shit, _that's hilarious!"

Black*Star leaned further back in his chair, seized by another round of barking laughter. So much for that plan. Soul's back tightened, torn between embarrassment and anger at himself, but he waited while Black*Star caught his breath again, trying desperately to figure another way out of this and coming up completely dry.

Suddenly, it hit him. He scratched his head, thinking frantically that _it couldn't possibly be that easy_. He weighed the options in his mind. Maybe he didn't _need_ to get out of it! Resonance had worked, hadn't it? The thought made him balk for a moment. Actually, hybrid resonance with Black*Star had worked much better than it had ever worked with Tsubaki, even if he'd had to endure Black*Star's One-Sided-Boxing-Match Wavelength from Hell. He smiled slowly; maybe telling the truth was actually a solution. Not like he hadn't already figured out everything on his own, the bastard. But if the cat's out of the bag, may as well buy it a collar. He'd just have to get Black*Star to cooperate. That would be another game entirely. He turned to Black*Star, who was regarding Soul curiously, confused about the sudden change in his expression.

"Fine, Black*Star. You know. You knew all along. You're the greatest. All hail to your glory," Soul rolled his eyes. "But this means-"

"About damn time you figured it out," Black*Star chortled.

Nope, he wasn't taking this seriously. Soul put his hands on the table in front of Black*Star, trying to press his case. If flattery didn't work, maybe reason would. _That_ was unlikely. Black*Star had never been one to listen to _logic_ before, but it was worth a try.

"Listen. The point is, this whole thing could actually _work_ if Maka and I need to resonate. Now that you know, there's no reason to hold back. Crona's in trouble and we can save him, Black*Star. That's the only thing that matters. There's bigger shit going on right now, and we have enough to worry about. So… it would be cool if you kept this whole thing quiet," he said, rather impressed at the way he hid the desperation in his voice.

Black*Star smiled and took his feet off of the table, sitting up straight and lacing his fingers together, letting them drop delicately against the table surface. And then he dropped the ball.

"Of course I can keep it quiet, Soul…" He stretched his arms out, pushing his hands away from him and cracking his knuckles with resounding finality. "… _For a price."_

Soul groaned, resting his back against the wall and slouching slightly. He should have expected this. His mind was immediately filled with all of the hair-raising _worship_ possibilities that Black*Star was capable of concocting. Too bad he didn't have a choice.

"All right, what do you want, Black*Star?" Soul muttered.

Black*Star paused. For all of his bravado, the ninja seemed to mentally stutter, unsure of what Soul's punishment should actually be. Soul pounced.

"Uhh, how about I give you the next five missions we get assigned." There, that was safe.

"Hell no, we get enough missions without your help," Black*Star said. "Do my homework for a month."

"You really want _me_ doing your homework?" Soul said without thinking. What the hell was he saying? Take the homework! It was better than following Black*Star around with a goddamned palm branch until he died.

"I'm not sure you're really in a position to negotiate, _golden boy_," Black*Star said slyly, but he must have privately agreed because his thinking face – the one that looks like he's in mild physical pain – had replaced his smirk. The deliberation continued while Soul tried to worm his way out of any permanently damaging embarrassment.

"Carry your shit to class."  
"Nope."  
"Clean your fucking house."  
"What do you think I keep Tsubaki around for?"  
"You're a terrible human being."  
"Hey, it's not me that wants into my partner's panties, is it?"

After what felt like hours of Black*Star making suggestions – mostly lewd ones – and Soul trying not to splutter, the bickering finally ceased and Black*Star's eyes were filled with a sickening triumph despite Soul's best attempts to control his fate.

"Alright," Soul said, resigned. "Can we go get this over with?"

Black*Star surveyed him smugly. "Oh no. Not now. _I get to choose when_," he said ominously, relishing every last second of this exceedingly painful experience.

Actually, Soul realized with a sigh, this entire endeavor was only just beginning. He pushed himself off from the table, ambling towards the door. At the very least, Soul knew Black*Star. As long as Soul carried out his task, his secret was safe. That wouldn't stop him from making sure that they had an accord. He turned around swiftly, pointing a threatening finger at Black*Star.

"Okay. I do it and you promise you won't–"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, I know nothing about your love of all things short-skirted and nerdy," Black*Star cut in.

_Except for every time we resonate,_ Soul thought. _Then you'll know way too much. _Oh well, that couldn't be helped.

It was an uneasy bargain, to be sure, but once he felt resonance surging once more, taking his body captive as the ribbon of Maka's resonance twined enticingly around him, he struggled to find a downside to the situation. He was free, _they_ were free, after so long, to resonate without any barrier. Despite Maka's flickers of annoyance that Black*Star kept relaying through their resonance – Soul knew he was so dead later – he could feel a newly forged potency to their power, and it intoxicated him. The closeness of her soul, the beckon of her resonance and of her essence that swept around him… it felt like the most sublime perfection, and he no longer had to resist it. He focused on the constant charge of her amplified energy as it passed through his heart. Yeah, this was perfect.

_Hey Maka,_ he heard Black*Star say, _Soul thinks this resonance is pretty sexy._

Oh, there's the downside. Soul bristled.

Regardless, he could feel the damage that months of isolation and resonance breaks had inflicted on their wavelengths begin to mend. Their connection had remained strong on the surface, always a functional link, but there had been something else, a distance between them that he had hated and resented the hell out of but hadn't been able to fix, considering the consequences. He'd take Black*Star's taunts if it meant he could feel closer to his meister than he had in far too long. He could get back to knowing her better than anyone, just the way he liked it. He'd long taken pride in being able to process the inner workings of Maka's nerd-brain.

Which was why, when he arrived at the apartment that evening, hung up his keys and was greeted by a certain kitchen dictionary hurtling dangerously close to his face, he probably should have been less surprised.

* * *

**A couple more things:** Yes, don't worry, the nature of Soul's eventual *payment* is supposed to stay a mystery for awhile. xD Also, on the subject of updates... I'm leaving in a week for MADAGASCAR (so stoked) so I'll be on a little bitty hiatus until mid-January. Regardless, I'm gonna try my best to get out one more update before I leave. As you may have discerned from the end of this one, next chapter will be super SoMa-esque, because it's been far too long since I threw them in a room alone together. Look for that by Friday! :)


	5. Gravity Blast

**Author's Note:** I still own nothing! Welcome to the longest chapter thus far, chock-full of SoMa UST goodness. Thought it was only fair to leave you on a longer chapter before I disappear ;) Don't own the song Gravity Blast either, though it is a fantastic little piece of delicious chiptune pie. Enjoy~

* * *

He heard it before he saw it, which was a testament to just how hard she'd thrown the damn thing.

"What the –" Soul squawked as he flattened himself against the door, feeling the dull thud of the book reverberating through his bones as it hit the door, missing him by an inch.

It took her mere milliseconds before she had the book back in her hand – he would never understand her reflexes, holy shit she was fast – ready to deliver another blow. He dove to his left, the whip-crack of her second shot rebounding angrily against the wall as she missed him again.

"Maka," he managed to choke out.

"I don't even want to hear it," she spat back.

Soul stared up at his meister from the floor, remarking for a moment that he'd spent _too much god damn time_ on the floor today, at an utter loss for what he could have possibly done to make her this angry. It wasn't like him skipping class was that much of a surprise, though he supposed he'd never actually showed up and made such a grand _exit_ before. Regardless, this caliber of violence was totally unnecessary, even if he had sort of abandoned her and spent half the class making back room (or _class_room, he supposed) deals with Black*Star.

Clearly Maka didn't share this view; she loomed over him, eyes flashing, and he knew it was a matter of seconds before she launched another attack sequence. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something to use to defend himself, because he wasn't going to be chopped tonight, damnit. He'd taken enough abuse from everyone else today, and he wasn't about to take it from Maka. Hell, she was the _reason_ for all of the abuse to begin with, though he couldn't really hold that against her, since being the subject of your partner's hopeless, misplaced attraction wasn't a punishable offense, last time he checked.

As she raised the book, aiming her third blow, Soul reached up to block her but missed; she lunged after him and he let out a _really_ uncool noise between a squeak and a yelp, rolling awkwardly to his side to dodge attempt number three. The book flipped onto its back and fell open in the opposite corner of the hallway, Soul eyeing it with derision.

He did note somewhat smugly, however, that it was indeed the _dictionary_ she was using for her attempts at battery and not any of the World Books. He wondered if she'd noticed their mysterious disappearance. Despite himself, he felt a rush of adrenaline at the thought of her discovering them and the resulting gauntlet she'd throw. He paused, wondering vaguely if he had some kind of death wish, but he decided that it had much more to do with the way she looked absolutely irresistible when she was angry than any deep-rooted masochism.

_It's true, this wasn't so bad_, he thought, as his eyes traveled past a heaving chest and heavy flush. His gaze lingered on the set of her jaw, tight with determination, before the two of them locked eyes, hers glimmering with that slight loss of self-control that would have made his toes curl if he wasn't too busy cowering and ogling simultaneously.

"Ugh! You are the most _in_furiating, _in_sensitive – " Maka said, reaching down to grab the book and stumbling slightly as she stomped toward the corner. Soul chuckled, and if possible, her face reddened even more, her irritation mixing with a dash of chagrin.

Screwed as he was, Soul was utterly amused, and he couldn't help sending her a challenging smirk, though he knew this would only incense her more. She must have been really pissed; it was rare that she missed him three times in a row. He entertained the idea, once again, of having a seriously clinical death wish, but then he came to his senses because damn, she really _did_ look scary as shit as she raised that book for the fourth time. Eventually self-preservation won out over perversion as he abandoned his gawking and scrambled towards the kitchen in another attempt to evade her wrath.

The kitchen was dark, and he tripped over several chairs in the process of getting at least one piece of furniture between the two of them. Finally, he made his way around the kitchen table, staking his fort. Behind him, he could hear her boots grounding into the floor.

"You'd think someone who's defeated a kishin would learn to be a little _quieter_ when she attacks," Soul said lightly, drinking in her irritation as she stalked closer to him.

"You'd think that person's _weapon_ would have a little more spine than to run away and hide like a coward," she snapped back. "Though that's not the first time you've done that today."

Oh, this was too good; if she was looking for a fight, he'd sure as hell give her one.

"I know better than to take you on when you've got one of those in your hand," he said, nodding at the book. "… Especially when I know you've got more ammo where that came from." He tried to keep his expression as blank as humanly possible.

Maka's face lit up with a conspiratorial smirk.

"You're right, I do," she said, backing up slowly, and Soul knew exactly where she was going as she slipped into her room to retrieve her award-winning collection of _missing_ preferred weapons.

It only took three seconds. She melted back into the doorway, merely a shadow, and Soul felt a shiver trace down his spine. He'd expected her to throw a fit; he hadn't expected this, whatever this was. She moved towards him, lithe and catlike, almost predatory.

"Where are they?" she murmured, and Soul gripped the underside of the table, partially as an escape plan, but partially because her talking and _moving_ like that was doing strange things to his breathing, apparently, and he certainly couldn't goad her properly if he was unconscious. That just wouldn't do. He'd always hated missing out on driving her nuts.

"Where are what?" he said innocently. The malicious smile that had slid off her face moments before slid slowly on to his.

"It'll only be worse for you when I find them," she said, ignoring his question and leaning against the doorframe as she examined her nails.

Where had _this_ Maka come from? Soul's guard came up; he couldn't anticipate what she'd do when she was like this. His hands gripped the table tighter. She crossed the rest of the kitchen and sized him up for a moment from across the table, tapping a finger against her cheek.

Maybe he'd underestimated himself; he had no idea how, but he was ready for it when she struck. He flung himself around the table as she jumped towards him with the book, chuckling when she let out a frustrated yell when she missed him. She flung the dictionary at him and he dodged again, diving down and ducking next to a table leg. He peeked above the wood, taking careful note of the second dictionary in her hand. Damn, he hadn't even seen her grab another.

She was breathing hard through her nose, looking at him in disbelief, though he wasn't much better. They watched each other for a moment, Maka planning her next move while Soul tried simply to wrap his mind around the past few minutes, mostly the impossible fact that she'd just missed him _five_ times.

"Careful, Albarn, I've never seen you so off your game. Wouldn't want me to think I've actually gotten into your head a bit," he said as he stood again, face splitting into a full-on grin.

She glared at him, and the dance began again; they circled the table, staring at each other, and as much fun as Soul was having with this little game, he realized he was pushing his luck.

"What are you so upset about, anyway?" he finally demanded, palms grasping the table in case the dictionary took to the skies again.

Maka stopped and stared at him like he'd just grown a second head.

"You don't know _why_ I'm so upset?!" Maka threw her hands up, exasperated, and Soul flinched, ready to escape, but thankfully the book stayed in her hand.

Soul literally bit his tongue. That had been the wrong question for him to ask. He hated when she did this, and normally he would have told her so, but he sensed hysterics coming. He quickly put his hands over his head like he'd committed some sort of crime that he'd never heard of, but really didn't want to go to jail for. Or get a chop for, more specifically, since this not-getting-chopped thing was reaching absolutely astronomical odds by Maka standards, and he was pretty positive this would never happen again.

"Alright, alright, I need some help here, mind educating me?" he said, wincing.

She sighed, but he could tell she was still angry; she squared her shoulders and glared at him again, and worse, she kept that damn book poised like a snake.

"You should ask Black*Star," she said, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Why the hell would I ask Black*Star why you're upset, you know he doesn't have feelings," Soul said. Well, that wasn't true, but at the moment the only feelings Soul had seen from Black*Star seemed to be varying degrees of gloating and _evil_. He grimaced.

"Well, if I'd known that all that you needed to fix our resonance was a little _male bonding time_, I wouldn't have wasted my time on other options," she hissed.

Ah. He lowered his hands slowly, though ironically, he felt a bit more like a criminal now. He hadn't really thought about how much effort Maka would put into fixing their resonance problem, and he told her that. He must have grown a third head, because she was giving him that look again.

"You didn't think that I would have done _anything I could_ to figure out what was going on once our resonance started breaking? I've been researching for weeks, I've been worried sick about you and about me, wondering what the hell is _wrong_ with us, and then you waltz out of class with Black*Star for twenty minutes today and suddenly everything's perfect? What the hell, Soul?"

He hated when she was right. Which was, of course, all of the time, but he still hated it.

"It wasn't really like… I didn't want… I mean… damnit, I'm sorry Maka," Soul said, looking down at his feet. "I really am. I've been worried too, but I should have talked to you about it."

"Yeah, you really should have," she said, leaning back against the wall behind her, and Soul let out a sigh of relief because, holy shit, _the book was descending._

"But it's okay now, this resonance is even better than it was," he said, tearing his eyes from the book and glancing back at her. Even though they'd only truly accomplished hybrid resonance once, he'd found the two resonances completely incomparable. Suddenly he wondered if that was true for her.

"Well, yeah, okay, but that doesn't mean-"

"Is it better?" The words tumbled out of his mouth, his own damn curiosity betraying him.

"Wh-what?" she said, and he watched her stiffen, though he couldn't figure out what he had said that would have set her on edge.

"Hybrid resonance, for you… is it better?" he said again, since he'd already boarded this runaway train of a conversation. "… How did it feel when we resonated before?"

She thought for a moment.

"I mean, it felt like… like we were perfectly connected. Like we're closer than we could ever be otherwise," she said.

He'd expected that; an honest, concise answer. What he _hadn't_ expected was the flush that had spread across her cheeks as she said it.

What the hell was he doing? Suddenly his legs were carrying him around the table, nearly tripping over themselves to get to her; finally, once he got his mind working again, he stopped a couple of feet from her, eyeing her warily.

"And… and how does it feel when we resonate with Black*Star?" he asked.

"You mean other than 'like a punching bag?'" she smiled weakly. He didn't know whether to laugh or to grimace; yes, he knew _that_ feeling well.

"Yeah, other than that," he said, and suddenly, what was this, his legs stopped listening to him again, and he'd taken another step towards her. Maka's eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"It… it feels sort of like every single bit of us is connected," she said, holding his gaze, and he felt an echo of the blue resonance flame erupt in his chest, though he wasn't sure if that was the reason his heart was pounding.

"Stein did say that hybrid resonance it was a chemical relationship. It's resonance on an atomic level, a little bit," she added. Soul smirked at how quickly she'd reverted back to nerd mode.

She still hadn't answered his question, however.

"So, does that make it better, then?" he asked again. Still unfamiliar with this sensation of having disobedient limbs, he watched with mingled fascination and horror as his arm reached out to her, fingers tracing delicately down her arm and stopping over her hand, brushing against it for a second before slowly sliding the dictionary out of her hand and placing it on the table. Not really sure of what was happening anymore, his eyes slid up painstakingly slowly to meet hers.

She was staring at him, expression somewhat guarded, clearly trying to mask her surprise, or shock, or whatever that emotion was. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her fingers twitch.

"Yes. It's better," she murmured, and he had no idea what the hell he was going to do now, though the much less sane part of his mind was reminding him that he was so close to her and she was already against the _wall_, damnit, and he blamed all of this on the fact that he was no longer in control of anything anymore.

A rap on the door made them both jump, and he snatched up the dictionary without thinking, wielding it as a defense against kitchen intruders. Maka snorted and he scowled at her, still not quite recovered from their little _exchange_ a moment ago, and he tried his best to calm his thunderous heart rate as he walked over to the door and wrenched it open.

Kid stood there, looking primly composed, as usual, though it took less than a second for Soul to realize that there was something in his eyes that Soul didn't like.

"S'going on, Kid?" Soul asked.

"May I come in? We have a bit of a problem," Kid said. As he spoke, he pulled something small and metal out of his pocket. Maka walked over to stand next to Soul, anxiety plain on her face.

"What is it, Kid? Does it have to do with Crona?"

"You tell me," Kid said. "I wanted to make sure you got a look at it first."

He held out his hand, and Soul and Maka peered down at it. It seemed pretty innocent, Soul thought, just a keychain with a little rubber "Malaysia" hanging off of the loop, decorated with corny little palm trees and sunglasses around it. Then, he heard Maka's gasp, and he looked closer.

Threaded through the keychain was a second item; a small, black, plastic item that slightly resembled the top of a screw. Soul had seen it many times before, but only in sets of three. And only in one place.

"Is that-?" he said.

"Yeah," Maka said, "That's one of Crona's buttons."

* * *

**And so I leave you:** On a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger involving buttons, no less. Hope you guys liked this absolutely ridiculous feels dump. :3 See you guys in three weeks or so! Thanks so much for the reviews, favorites, follows, etc. They make my heart sing :)


	6. Teach Me Something

**Author's Note:** Why hello strangers! This took longer than I planned, so let's just get right to it, shall we? :) I own nothing. Enjoy~

* * *

_Sleep is overrated_, Soul coached himself, fighting the urge to let his eyelids droop. Falling asleep in front of Shinigami and every other important person in Shibusen wouldn't do much for his credibility.

More importantly, it wouldn't help Maka's mood much, either, and he knew she was still smarting from earlier. They hadn't really gotten a chance to finish their conversation (though he was somewhat grateful for that, as everything that had transpired had been far too close to a _very bad, _if very intriguing, idea) and afterwards, Kid had rounded them up and sent them off to Shibusen in the dead of night. She'd sat down next to him without hesitation, but she hadn't spoken a word to him since they'd arrived, which wasn't helping too much with the whole 'stay awake' plan.

It hadn't exactly been a boring 24 hours, to be fair. Between having resonance problems, _fixing_ resonance problems, a healthy dose of Black*Star blackmail and one overly violent meister, Soul had begun to accept that he'd probably never sleep again.

He stared around in bleary-eyed contempt at the "quick emergency meeting" Kid had assembled. The second hand of the clock ticked loudly behind him, marking the nearly four hours he'd spent in this ridiculous assembly of idiots.

What had started as a simple strategy meeting had been quickly and efficiently derailed by Black*Star within the first ten minutes. Though Soul wasn't necessarily surprised, he was still ready to throttle Black*Star, secret-spilling consequences be damned, for mentioning everything that had happened this afternoon.

Well, almost ready. The idea of Black*Star sharing _that_ with all of Shibusen's leadership wasn't a particularly attractive one, especially with one Papa Albarn in attendance. As such, Soul was forced to shut up and stew angrily while the conversation circled idly around him. He'd given up on getting a word in hours ago, because although originally created to discuss Crona's disappearance, Kid's little pow-wow had turned into a hybrid resonance bitchfest.

"I still don't see why it needed to be the two of them," Spirit was griping, cheek pressed up against his palm in unabashed disappointment. "Here's a solution. Maka could have just found a different weapon. It would have been better for everyone."

He shot Soul a heated glare, as if it had been _Soul's _inspired idea to let Black*Star wreak havoc on their wavelengths all afternoon. Tired as he was, Soul was well-practiced at being the bane of the death scythe's existence, and he flashed him a quick grin across the table, relishing the angry red that filled Spirit's face. A different weapon? To be honest, Soul had entertained the thought when this had all started. He'd needed to. He felt another rush of gratitude for Stein and his mildly illegal experimentation methods.

"I think it could be a real breakthrough, something we could really use," Lord Death exclaimed, clapping his hands together happily. "It really is a marvel that we've never seen it before!"

He glanced at Kid, seeming to cheerfully ignore the fact that it had been _his_ spawn who'd been forced to endure the brunt of the "research" process. Kid sighed heavily, trying to get the meeting back on track for the thousandth time. Lips pursed, he rapped his knuckles against the table.

_"Malaysia,"_ he said emphatically, taking the keychain out of his pocket and dangling it before the group. He shook it lightly, Crona's button dancing around the word. Soul could tell Kid was finally losing patience, like a babysitter who'd spent the past four hours dealing with a bunch of irate children. That wasn't so far off the mark, Soul thought, as Spirit crossed his arms and let out a muted _harrumph _across the table. Soul didn't bother to stifle his chuckle, keeping his eyes carefully averted as Spirit's face approached a hilariously robust red. Already clued in to their exchange, Maka glanced between the two of them with an air of slightly amused superiority.

_So determined to be different_, Soul thought shrewdly. He wasn't buying it. Maka and Spirit had their problems, it was true, but Soul still had a hunch that they were much more similar than they knew. There was definitely something in the fact that the person he found it the most fun to goad, other than Maka, was her father.

"Maka and Soul were the ones that used hybrid resonance because they needed to use it," Stein was saying to Spirit. "It wasn't a question of preference."

That was the second time he'd cut Kid off, and Soul felt the slightest sense of foreboding as the younger reaper's eyes glinted.

"I'd prefer you didn't discover it at all," Spirit muttered, which Soul chose to ignore. Next to him, however, Maka's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I really think it would be more practical to discuss-" Kid started again.

"Oh, can we see them resonate?" Death exclaimed. "I'd really like to-"

"I'd really _not_ like to-" Spirit threw in.

"If we could get back to the point of-" Kid said, only to be interrupted again, seconds later. His teeth ground together, and Soul felt alarm bells go off, though he seemed to be the only one that noticed. He glanced at Maka, who was looking equally tense. She had twisted her hands together, adopting an eerily calm stillness next to him. _Oh boy, here we go_, he thought.

"They've only done it a few times, so it hasn't been perfected," Stein, ever the negotiator, explained.

"I'd still like to see it, for the sake of science_,_" chided Sid, who had been wary about the idea since Black*Star's cries of 'now I can even beat you up with your own resonance, Soul!' had first begun.

"Just want to reiterate that I'd still like to _never see it_ if it's Maka doing the resonating," Spirit interrupted.

Soul held his breath, watching the emotions in the room spiral higher. His eyes swept the room, flickering primarily from Kid to Maka, since he couldn't decide who looked more frightening, and he started counting backwards from ten.

He made it to eight.

"_WILL YOU IDIOTS JUST SHUT UP FOR A SECOND_?" Kid exploded, just as Maka launched herself across the table and landed a perfectly placed chop on Spirit's head. The room fell deadly silent (except for Spirit's yowl, Soul noted with more than a little satisfaction) as everyone turned to stare at Kid who, despite his outburst, was standing motionless at the front of the room. He waited another second before he began again, every eye in the room fixed on him. Soul had to admit, as long as you didn't stick him in a room full of asymmetrical shit, Kid's self-control was pretty impeccable.

Maka, satisfied with the break in Spirit's babbling, circled back around the table and squeezed Soul's shoulder as she sat down. It occurred to him that she'd been defending him, a little bit. He tried to scowl, immediately chagrined at the idea that Maka felt the need to defend his capability as a weapon. But then she didn't move her hand, and suddenly the pressure on his shoulder drew him back to a different feeling, to the whispery feel of her skin on his fingers the night before...

He cursed himself, hurriedly grabbing the reins on any and all Maka-related feelings before he got carried away. God, he was hopeless.

"Malaysia," Kid repeated slowly. "The reason we're here, remember? _What does it mean?"_

He spun the keychain around his middle finger and laid it on the table, pointing at it and staring up at the room. The gesture felt incredibly final, and Soul took a moment to appreciate how well Kid's intimidation tactics were working. Four and a half hours later, he thought, it was time they got some damn answers.

Death, Spirit and Stein exchanged a glance that nobody missed, clearly having an unspoken battle over who would be forced to give the monologue. Normally that job fell to Stein, it seemed, though Soul had always assumed that was due to Death and Spirit's perpetual laziness rather than Stein simply enjoying the sound of his own voice. Regardless, it came as a surprise when Spirit spoke up.

"As you know," Spirit began, standing and pushing his chair back slowly, his hair falling forward so that it just barely covered his eyes. "Crona is missing. Based on this," – he nodded at the keychain – "We can only assume that Malaysia, obviously, is where he's been taken."

"So it's a summons," Kid said, crossing his arms. "Whoever took Crona _wants_ us to follow."

"So it would seem," said Spirit. Soul noted for the first time that Spirit had also probably not slept much the past couple of nights; the bags under his eyes took on a more pronounced shadow as he regarded the group.

"But who would do that? Medusa's gone. There's no reason for anyone else to be going after Crona, is there?" Liz said, who was trying to shrug off a lightly snoring Patty lying on her shoulder.

"Unfortunately, it seems that Crona isn't the only one to have disappeared," Spirit said. "We've had reports of other… incidents… across the world over the past few days."

"What _incidents_?" Sid said angrily, confirming Soul's suspicion that, as usual, Shinigami had kept everyone out of the loop for far too long. "What even happened when Crona disappeared?"

"That's the problem," Stein said slowly, just as Spirit was about to speak again. "Nothing."

Wait. _Nothing_ happened? If not for the deadly serious expression on his face, Soul would have wondered if Stein had finally come – for lack of a better word – _unscrewed_.

"Surely," Stein continued, "Someone with Crona's abilities would have been able to put up enough of a fight against your average attacker. Enough, anyway, to wake the other two people who _live there_."

He glanced at Marie a moment, and Soul could almost sense something that had crept into Stein's voice – regret, possibly? But within a moment it was gone, and he was back to nonchalance personified, glasses flashing as he leaned back in his chair. Even so, the message was clear: whoever had gotten their hands on Crona was a threat.

"So, what you're saying is… nobody knows anything about Crona's disappearance," Kid said flatly.

So they'd been here all night for absolutely nothing. Excellent. Kid's indignation was so tangible that Soul could turn into a scythe and cut it.

_That's it_, Soul thought impatiently. _Never calling a single one of these assholes if I ever have a damn emergency._

"That's not what I said at all," Stein said, rather dangerously, and Soul hit the brakes on his derision as everyone stared back at Stein warily.

"What Stein means is," Spirit said, shooting him a warning glance, "We did find something in common with the people who've been taken."

And then something strange happened. His eyes flickered, completely inexplicably, to Soul. It was fleeting; if Soul had blinked, he would have missed it. Honestly, he probably wouldn't even have noticed if Stein hadn't done the same thing a few seconds later, breaking eye contact only when Soul raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Hell, it even felt like Death was looking at him, though he supposed he could never truly know if he was the subject of a Shinigami staredown.

"All of those who have disappeared," Stein said slowly, his eyes settling on Soul once more, "Were infected with the black blood."

A second of silence passed. He felt Maka's eyes glide slowly over to his face. He dimly registered that he had no idea what his expression looked like. The gazes of everyone else in the room burned into him, but then Stein kept going, and one by one he felt their attention sliding away. He tried to grapple with what this meant, but then Sid's question pulled him out of his reverie.

"But the black blood shouldn't be affecting anyone, should it? How is it that so many people are involved with it?"

"Bad news travels fast," said Stein wryly. "Medusa's little creation is spreading, if only slightly. As far as numbers, there are only nine souls that we know of that are infected. Seven of them have gone missing."

Soul swallowed the lump in his throat. Maka glanced at him again, and he looked lazily around the room, feigning disinterest. A high probability that he'd be kidnapped soon? No big deal.

"As such," Spirit said, ignoring the colossal elephant in the room, "We need to act quickly. We're sending a team in to do a little reconnaissance. Since we don't know who or what we're dealing with, this mission must be incredibly low key. We have an idea of where to start, but I cannot stress enough the importance of incognito. There's a lot at stake. We have to protect our own."

He looked up at Soul, and Soul stared back at him in disbelief. What was this, Spirit getting sentimental? Huh. Maybe somewhere in that obstinate heart of his, Spirit kind of cared for him a little. It was a nice thought.

"So, Black*Star, Tsubaki, and you three," he said, pointing at Kid and the Thompsons, "Get packed up, you're leaving in the morn… uhh…" He looked up at the clock. "You're leaving in three hours."

"What's the plan for us, Papa?" said Maka expectantly. Spirit regarded her for a second, finding his words.

"I should have thought that would be obvious," he said. "You two aren't going."

"What?!" Soul and Maka said in unison, both jumping to their feet. It probably would have been pretty funny if Soul hadn't been so pissed. That controlling bastard! Of course he'd turn this into a way to keep them from working together. Soul couldn't believe he'd bought into '_we protect our own._' A small part of his brain reminded him that Spirit's words might still have been born of genuine concern, but he ignored it. The idea that Spirit was just a dick was much more gratifying.

"Of course we're going, Crona's there," Maka said shrilly, clenching her fists at her sides.

"You can't resonate by yourselves at the moment, for whatever reason," Stein said, while Soul tried _very_ hard not to look guilty. "And your partner is on a very short _hit list_. If you go, this would be a suicide mission."

"All the more reason to go _with_ the team, where our resonance will be even stronger and we can protect each other," Soul retorted, crossing his arms.

"We don't even really know what hybrid resonance is, or what it does," Spirit said. "I'd love to see you try to use a type of resonance we don't understand on an enemy that we don't know how to fight."

Despite himself, Soul laughed, and then tried to cover it up with a cough. Everyone stared at him.

"Uhh," he said, trying hard not to smirk. "It's just… you just said you've _love_ to see us try hybrid resonance."

Spirit blanched, and Maka smiled. Soul was hit with a sudden idea.

"Just watch us resonate once," he said. "See how much stronger we are. It could be an asset to us."

Stein surveyed them for a moment, impressed. "An unknown tactic against an unknown enemy," he mused. "I like it."

"It might be worth a try," Death agreed, shooting them a double thumbs-up.

"There's still the question of your black blood," Spirit said, though it was clear he was running out of arguments. "You'd both be safer here."

"That's bullshit. Based on the odds, I'm gonna end up there anyway," Soul said. He'd rather go on his own than be part of some lame-ass abduction.

"If you go, you're playing into their hands," Stein said. "You'd be making it that much easier for them."

"If you all think we'd just sit around because there's a _slightly_ bigger chance that we'll get hurt, you're nuts," Soul said. "There's a risk every time we go on a mission. We're going. If something happens, and I become another part of this little black blood _collection_, I've got a pretty cool partner to bail me out."

That last part had tumbled out before he had really thought about it, but the beaming smile he got from Maka in response made the reaction of the rest of the room easier to stomach. He kept his eyes trained on Maka, mostly to keep himself from strangling Black*Star, who'd adopted a goofy smile and was fluttering his eyelashes in traditional asshole fashion.

"Let 'em try," Maka said, and they locked eyes for the first time since they'd fought hours ago. He grinned at her and she smiled back, determination stirring in her eyes.

"Papa, you wanted to see us resonate?" she asked lightly, grinning, her eyes never leaving Soul's. Spirit's disgruntled murmur was music to Soul's ears.

Feeling more and more like a circus animal on display every time he did this, Soul stood up with Maka and they made their way to the front of the room.

"Don't get too carried away this time," Black*Star murmured, turning for a moment so only Soul could see his smirk. "Wouldn't want to give everyone too good of a show."

Soul wholeheartedly agreed, but he scowled at Black*Star nonetheless. He steeled himself and shot one more self-satisfied grin at Spirit before he transformed.

"Let's go," Maka said, looking expectantly at the other two.

"Hybrid resonance!" they echoed.

… And then everything went black.

* * *

**I know, I know:** Oldest trick in the book, but don't worry. There's a possibility that ~very bad, if very intriguing~ things happen when everything goes black. ;) Just realized I've left you two cliffhangers in a row. I'm a jerk. Thank you guys so much for your patience, I know this was a bit of a wait. Madagascar was a blast, but I'm excited to get back into a *real* writing schedule! Look for chapter 7 in the next week and a half or so!


	7. Suspension and Submersion

He was floating in that place again. No sound, no sight, only the hazy, simmering feel of cognizance dripping softly around him, muddling his brain.

It didn't make any sense that he was here again. Hadn't they just started to resonate? He tried to pry his eyes open. He hadn't even felt Black*Star's wavelength hit him, so how was it that he'd managed to find his way back here?

Time passed. The silence pressed in on him. He hated feeling trapped like this, stuck in the recesses of this empty, mid-resonance hell. It irritated him, the fact that he'd much rather be enduring the usual Black*Star wavelength beat-down than hovering numbly in space.

The minutes dragged, or maybe they were hours, as he tried to think his way out of this mess.

It wasn't that he couldn't see, he realized. There was a color here; everything was gray, and heavy, so impossibly heavy. The sheer weight of it made it feel like his mind was ready to separate, to float away in pieces on the tides of nothingness that threatened to drown him.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been hanging there when he heard it.

"Soul?" The question hung faintly in the air, growing softer as the current pushed it around, diluting the words until he wasn't even sure he'd heard them in the first place.

Wait, _heard_? It was the first time he'd been able to truly sense anything in this god-awful place. He tried to move, to call out to the voice to help him. He could almost feel the silence mocking him as he continued to rest immobile, like a marionette in suspension.

"Soul," the voice implored, though it was more like an admonishment than anything, the voice taking on a preachy quality. _Damnit Maka,_ Soul thought, because it could only be her voice – there was no mistaking Maka in lecture mode.

Growing gradually more frustrated with the invisible ropes that bound him, he tried desperately to call back to her. The room seemed to sense his efforts, and instead of getting closer, her voice disappeared altogether and a soft buzzing replaced it, like a group of mosquitos circling his head at a distance. He did his best to ignore the nagging uneasiness that had started to manifest at the back of his mind.

Forget this shit, he thought, swallowing his fear. He'd be damned if he was stuck in his own damn mind – that's where he assumed he was, anyway – for the rest of his life. Maka was here somewhere.

_If I can't get to you_, _come closer to me,_ he thought impatiently, and he was hit by the realization of how many times he'd secretly wished for exactly that. Leave it to his subconscious to turn his emotional predicaments into literal ones. He willed his hands to come to life so he could swim himself out of this madness.

Huh. Is that what this was? Another type of madness?

The buzzing grew louder, the vibrations rebounding in his eardrums. He could feel his senses slowly returning to him, but suddenly he wasn't so sure he wanted that, as his skin had started to crawl. It was starting to feel a lot like the madness, the same powerlessness and lack of control that enveloped him every time the demon took hold.

But it couldn't be the same, he reasoned, as the uneasiness at the back of his mind started to morph into the smallest traces of panic. His ears begged for release as the buzzing reached deafening levels.

_Just calm down and think about this_, he thought hurriedly. He was in control, damnit. His mind was clear. There was no trace of any true insanity, that familiar wave of blissful incoherence that accompanied the demon's madness.

At least he had that. It was the one thing that reassured him. Despite everything, it seemed that the demon couldn't touch him here.

The buzzing abruptly stopped, and a shadow of a doubt filled the back of his mind. And then the shadow became thicker, blacker, and viscous, dripping slowly into his consciousness to replace the nothingness. The black blood. He felt it rather than saw it: the sharp, menacing twitch of a smile that stretched across the little ogre's face in his brain.

"Oh, can't I?" the demon murmured.

Soul felt all of the oxygen blasted from his lungs as something wrenched him out of the nothingness and slammed him into a wall, hard. At the same time, the weight on his mind disappeared; the black blood seemed to be gone. His capacity for sight came back to him before he actually opened his eyes, and he felt his spine relax as relief flooded him.

It was short-lived. When he finally opened his eyes, he froze, paralyzed with disbelief. He hadn't been prepared for the mischievous malice in a pair of green eyes that, despite his previous lamentations, were suddenly much too close to him.

"Maka?" he breathed, caught between shock and another, much more pleasant feeling, blood rushing to his face as he realized that the reason he still couldn't move was because _she'd pinned him down._

His heart kick-started; he could feel it beating erratically as they stared at each other. Memories of the night before overwhelmed him, and he would have spent more time reflecting on the irony of this little role reversal if the way she was looking back at him hadn't rendered his brain completely useless. She was back to the way she'd been that night, predatory and slightly wild and absolutely _transfixing_.

She ran a finger down his cheek, stopping to tilt his chin up with a little more force than he'd have imagined, and his knees threatened to buckle because _god_, just one touch from her left him an utter mess. Some sort of survival instinct screamed at him to figure out what the hell was happening, that something was off, but an invisible force held him there, frozen with anticipation as he found himself the subject of a hungry gaze and even hungrier hands that were slowly sliding into his hair, pulling just a little too hard on the roots.

He had exactly one second to register something that felt disturbingly like resonance rip through him before her lips claimed his, fiercer and more demanding than all of the other times he'd guiltily entertained this scenario. The resonance flame in his chest died as quickly as it had come, but he didn't think too much of it because her fingers were tangling in his hair and the feel of her lips was absolute ecstasy and he would do _anything_ for this to never stop.

A tongue slid slowly along his bottom lip, and he groaned as his intertwined with hers. He wondered for a moment if it was possible to be in both heaven and hell at the same time, until she abandoned his lips to leave kisses down his neck and he forgot how to think altogether. With their newfound freedom, his hands found her hips without his permission, pulling her more tightly against him.

_This is wrong_, his subconscious screamed at him, and he _liked_ it – but no, no, he couldn't do this, he had to focus. Shit, he shouldn't be here, remember? He couldn't forget that, no matter how much the feel of her lips on his neck was making his head spin.

Just when he'd almost managed to get a grip on his sanity, her hands moved to his collar and she pulled his ear to her lips. He shivered.

Slowly and deliberately she spoke, and as the words reached his ears, his eyes went wide as heavy dread filled his body.

"Every time you resonate like this, it'll get harder to hold back," she whispered, only when she spoke, her voice was magnified and mixed. It was like a crude _hybrid, _he realized frantically, of her voice and the demon's.

He froze, and blind terror tore at his consciousness as he scrambled to break through to a surface that he couldn't find. As if in response to his panicky demands, the faded resonance roared to life, and Soul felt the all-too-familiar sensation of being forcibly pulled via resonance, a wavelength driving him upwards out of the dense, humid gray.

In a rickety bed that seemed vaguely familiar, his body jerked awake with a start. Drenched in sweat, he pulled in gasps of air and tried to stop shaking.

It took him several seconds to realize he wasn't alone. Maka and Black*Star stood at the foot of the bed, expressions wary and fighting stances at the ready. He glanced between the two of them, eyes wide, and they started to relax, despite the fear he knew they could feel emanating from him.

"What happened," he choked out, his head swimming. He searched his mind, listening for the little demon. He must have been lurking in the darker shadows of Soul's brain, as he'd fallen abruptly silent again. Soul scowled inwardly. He'd deal with him later.

"Something happened when we tried to resonate," Maka said as her body relaxed, her voice a tired combination of concern and relief. "You passed out. At first we figured it was just because Black*Star had been a bit too… overzealous."

To her left, Black*Star's face split into a cheeky grin.

"Yeah right," Soul tried to laugh, and then stopped because his lungs didn't appreciate that. "I can take anything your resonance can dish, you know that."

Black*Star snorted, ready to dispute that, but Maka glared at him and he fell grumpily silent.

"After a while, though, you weren't waking up," she continued. "We got worried. I tried to go in to get you, but we got cut off again."

So that's what that had been, Soul thought, remembering the flash and fade of resonance that had disappeared. Apparently he was even cutting her off subconsciously now, though he couldn't help feeling grateful for that this time; he remembered quite clearly what she would've seen if she'd succeeded. The memory of her lips on his was suddenly far too distracting, and he put his head in hands to cover anything that might have been showing on his face. That, and he wasn't sure if his head could hold itself up much longer.

"We tried hybrid resonance," she said, "And I couldn't see you, but Black*Star was able to pull you out, so…"

The hint of sadness in her voice was carefully masked, but he knew it was killing her to feel so useless when he was lying passed out in, he realized, one of the beds in the infirmary.

"Seemed real, uh… fun in there, but I thought it was probably better to get you out," Black*Star said slowly, and Soul had to give it to him: his voice stayed just sarcastic enough for Maka to not read anything into it, but one look at his expression told Soul that he'd definitely seen too much.

Despite everything, Soul was pretty thankful for hybrid resonance. Otherwise, he'd still be in that damn abyss… but regardless, that asshole's track record for seeing shit he shouldn't was far too extensive these days.

"What did you see?" Maka asked him, sitting down on the bed next to him. His head snapped up.

"I, uhh…" Soul started inelegantly, caught off guard.

"Yeah Soul, what did you see?" leered Black*Star. Soul ignored him.

"Well, I didn't see anything for a long time," Soul said. "And then, the demon's voice… said some stuff," he finished lamely. Well, he hadn't lied. Much.

"That all?" Black*Star asked lightly.

Soul shot him a death glare. "Yeah, pretty much."

"But what did he say, what's wrong?" Maka asked.

Soul hesitated a moment, a shiver running down his spine as he remembered the whispered warning against his ear. There was no need to worry her, right? He had it under control. Of course he did. Maybe it was becoming clearer that this resonance might be a little more dangerous than they'd thought, but there was no point in getting everyone needlessly worked up. Not quite reassured, he settled for another half-truth.

"It was about hybrid resonance," he said. "I think your dad was right about us not knowing much about it."

Maka wrinkled her nose, clearly displeased at the idea of her father being right about anything, but said nothing.

"Well, it doesn't really matter at this point, since everyone agreed about five seconds after you _swooned_ that you weren't coming on the mission," Black*Star said after a moment of silence.

"Shit, really?" Soul glanced around the room, searching for a clock. "How long was I out for?"

"A few hours," Maka supplied as she rubbed her eyes.

"Then aren't you supposed to be gone?" Soul asked Black*Star.

He hesitated. "Yeah, I'll catch up to them later," he said, waving his hand casually.

Soul smirked. "You stayed back to make sure I was okay, didn't you? That's so cute."

Black*Star looked pissed for a second, but then he smiled sweetly.

"Of course. C'mon Soul, you should know I'd give up, I dunno, _all of the gold in Shinigami's vault_ to make sure you're okay." He blinked at him innocently. Soul contemplated all of the ways he could make a gaping scythe wound in Black*Star's face look like an accident.

"Well, either way," Maka said, eyeing them both strangely, "Let's get you home so you can rest."

Soul's brow furrowed, and he stared down blankly at the sheets. Going home wasn't really an option, he knew, even as the demon's warning echoed through his mind a second time.

Fuck it, he thought, he'd dealt with the madness a million times, and he'd do it again. As soon as he'd decided it, he felt his resolve strengthen a bit, and he grinned.

"Maka, I think we should still go," he said slowly, trying to gauge her expression. He could already read the 'no' all over her face, but there was still indecision there, a quiet, vexing need that he could sense under her skin. Soul knew that against her better judgment, she wanted to go too.

"I'm fine," he insisted, holding her gaze and willing her to believe it. "Let's go get Crona back."

She seemed to study him another moment, tilting her head and looking him up and down intently. Evidently she decided to accept his self-diagnosis, because her face slid into a smile and she nodded.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Black*Star said, pulling two pieces of paper out of his pocket and tossing them lightly on the bed. He looked even more pleased with himself than usual.

"What's this?" Soul said, picking them up and examining them.

"Plane tickets," Black*Star said. "You can thank Kid later. I gotta go, since I need catch mine, actually."

"We're not going with you?" Maka said.

"Nah. It's probably better if you stay under daddy's radar, you know?" he said, nodding at Maka as he backed impishly out of the room. He waved at them and took off running down the hallway.

Maka frowned at the empty doorway, but she stood up and gave Soul a hand as he clambered out of bed.

"Don't worry," Soul laughed. Now that it was decided, the slow burn of pre-mission adrenaline was starting to make him strangely giddy. "Besides, we're just doing what Spirit told us to do."

He reached for his jacket and slung it over his shoulder, making his way towards the door.

"How do you figure that?" she said, following behind him.

"Said it was a low-key mission, didn't he?" Soul said as they walked out of the room. He shut the door with a click and glanced up at her again.

"After all," he said, eyes glinting, "He couldn't stress enough the importance of _incognito_."

* * *

**Author's Note** (at the bottom this week!): Don't worry, it only gets more chaotic from here. ;) Also, I had an absolute blast writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it! I wrote it at a little coffee shop in town, sending shifty-eyed glances at passersby as I wrote, particularly during that uh... one part. Then I remembered that nobody here speaks English, and wouldn't really be able to effectively read about the fated Soul pin-down over my shoulder. Alas, my pervy tendencies remain a secret... except to all of you. Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites, guys!


	8. Stirring the Embers

**Author's Note:** As usual, I own nothing! ... except for the complete and utter joy I experience while writing the demon. That is _all_ mine. Probably my favorite character to write thus far, except for possibly Black*Star (and Soul, obviously :P). Also! I'm looking for a second beta. One of mine has left me for a bit, and I really really like having two. I'd be really honored if you'd be willing to help. Anyway, if you're interested, leave it in a review or shoot me a PM. :) Enjoy!~

* * *

Soul's foot was asleep. It was both uncomfortable and unpleasant, but he was apathetic, and the tingly pain shooting up his leg wasn't stirring enough for him to do anything about it. Clearly it was a sign that the rest of his body should catch up, he mused. For the moment, however, sleep evaded him.

The sound of the airplane did calm his senses slightly. The gentle hum of the engine, at the very least, had finally taken his emotions off high alert for the first time in hours. He shook his foot, realizing it was probably all of the running around they'd done today that had caused his nerves to go on strike.

Maka had taken 'incognito' to heart, hurrying them in and out of the apartment in less than an hour in case Blair came home, and then using every trick in the book to get them through security in record time. She'd scanned everywhere for any sign of red, overprotective hair moving through the crowds to spoil their plans.

She'd even insisted that they sit separately on the plane, since they'd be more easily recognized if they sat together, but Soul finally put his foot down. He was all for covering their tracks, but she was being ridiculous. Once they were on the plane, he told her, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

His opinion on the subject had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that he knew _exactly_ how his meister was on planes, how there was essentially a 100 percent chance that she'd be asleep within the first five minutes, and that in all likelihood, it would be on his shoulder.

He glanced down at her, extremely pleased with the results of his calculations. He was just being chivalrous, he told himself. Wouldn't want her awkwardly leaning on anyone she didn't know. He'd take one for the team.

With the chaos of the past two days beginning to settle and her comforting weight against him, sleep beckoned. Soul willed his eyelids to close. He jingled his foot up and down. His body begged to relax, but something still pulled him away from sleep, back to what had been weighing on his mind since he'd first heard it.

What were the exact words the demon had said? The more they used hybrid resonance, the harder it would be to hold back. But he wasn't sure what that meant; hold back from what? He thought (with some difficulty - she was lying on him, after all) about the circumstances under which the words had been spoken. He sincerely hoped it didn't mean holding back on the _feelings _that had driven that entire exchange. He had enough trouble with that already.

_It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world_, his subconscious hedged, remembering the thrill of losing control last time, of hands on hips and her lips everywhere.

_Stop, bad idea,_ he thought as his eyes threatened to roll back in his head. Shit, he'd been doing such a good job of forgetting about that until now. He knew how bad it already was. There was no doubt that losing control even more would be nothing short of a disaster.

He leaned against the back of the chair in frustration, trying to slow his heart rate. Unfortunately, that only made it worse, he realized, as the sensation was entirely too similar to being _pushed against walls_, so he quickly relaxed. Maka started to stir, and he froze, staying as still as he possibly could, his annoyance at himself churning and mixing with concern. After a moment, her cheek pressed softly into his shoulder and she sighed, falling back into sleep. Worried as he was, his lips formed the smallest half-smile and he slowly leaned his head on hers.

He had to protect her from this, no matter what he wanted. That was all there was to it. His thoughts ventured back to the demon. What could he have meant?

Well, there was certainly one way to find out, he supposed. He closed his eyes and searched, the darker shadows of his brain taking the stage as he relaxed and fell into the darkness, calling the demon forward. Almost on command, he fell asleep, and after a few moments of floating through the foggy wisps and tendrils of his dreams, he found himself in the black room.

_Home sweet home,_ he thought bitterly.

"Oh, you prefer this place to that _other_ one and you know it," the demon replied, stepping slowly out from behind the velvet curtain as if on cue.

Soul ignored him, adjusting his tie as his eyes swept the room. Something about the room was new, he realized suspiciously. He tried to figure out what was out of place. His eyes drifted over the checkered floor and the black-stained upholstery of the chair, as delicately regal as ever. When it hit him, he couldn't believe it hadn't been the first thing he'd noticed.

"You changed the record," Soul said, taking a step toward the record player and scrutinizing the needle as it spun. It was still a jazz song – he felt like it wouldn't be _his_ mind anymore if it weren't jazz – but the tempo was new; it was faster, less predictable. The time signature wasn't steady. He could barely keep up with how much the piece was changing.

"I did," the demon replied. "I thought it was time for a new soundtrack, perhaps."

There was a thinly veiled excitement in his voice that made Soul uneasy. The demon leaned back against the side of the chair, surveying him.

"Always nice to acknowledge a new change. Isn't it, Soul?" he added, quietly enough that Soul almost missed it.

"A new change, huh?" Soul said, irritation and apprehension shooting through him in equal parts. "You mean getting me stuck in that hell-hole forever, and then-"

He stopped, because they both knew what had happened after. The demon's face split into a wicked grin of Black*Star proportions.

"Yes, exactly," he said. He snapped his fingers a couple of times, and his feet started to move in that normal off-beat jig he always adopted when they listened to jazz. "Though that second part wasn't me, I have to admit. You did that on your own."

Soul balked at that; he assumed the demon was lying, but to be honest, he could easily see his own mind conjuring up such a situation. He filed that away for later. He had more pressing questions for the little bastard.

"You said it would get harder to hold back," Soul said, trying to keep a lid on his curiosity, though he wasn't sure who he was trying to fool. By this point, the demon knew his mind inside and out. It wasn't a thought he liked to dwell on too much.

"Well, it wasn't just me, if you recall," the demon said deviously, and Soul tried to ignore the sickening echo of the demon's voice mixed with his meister's. It dawned on him that the demon was trying to distract him. He watched with distaste as the demon's dancing became even more haphazard with the rise and fall of the tempo. His curiosity further piqued, he regarded the ogre stonily.

"But what does that mean, hold back?" Soul pressed, determined not to let him worm his way out of the conversation.

"I meant what I said," the demon replied. "You'll give in eventually, you know. Your soul won't be able to resist it."

Which still wasn't an answer.

"Why do you always have to be so fucking vague?" Soul demanded. "Just say what you mean, for once."

"This resonance is so much stronger than before, it's like nothing I've ever seen," the demon said gleefully, clasping his hands together. He was talking to himself, ignoring Soul, but Soul knew it was for his benefit, and it angered him.

"Yeah, it might even be stronger than your precious black blood," he snapped.

The demon froze a moment, as if caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing, but then his eyes glinted with absolute mirth, his gaze thick with greed as he regarded Soul.

"It might," he murmured, "… but imagine the two of them together." Soul stared at him.

"Imagine it, Soul," the demon repeated, taking a step closer toward him and curling his fingers into a fist. "The strongest resonance you're capable of, _plus_ the black blood. You'd never lose a battle again. You could get your friend back, you could–"

Soul was only half-listening at this point – he'd heard enough black blood sales pitches to last him a lifetime – but his mind was racing.

Hybrid resonance, the strength of three souls. Three connected,_ resonating_ souls. Yes, it made them stronger, but it also made them vulnerable, didn't it? He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. He knew exactly how the black blood spread. If Soul gave in to the madness, it could affect them all regardless, but if they resonated too strongly… _he could infect Black*Star_.

"Oh, I don't think you need to worry about that." The demon interrupted his thoughts, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "He's only the anchor for your resonance, after all."

But his smile was too kind, too placating, and Soul didn't buy it for a minute. The demon pressed his case.

"No, really, as long as Maka's wavelength passes through all three of you at once, there's no way for that to happen," he said.

Soul eyed him carefully, eyes narrowed. The demon was leaving something out. It seemed innocent enough; her wavelength always passed through them both at once, didn't it? That's what Black*Star was there for in the first place.

… No, he thought, stones coming to rest in the pit of his stomach. That wasn't true. He thought about the way they resonated, the way Black*Star grabbed each of their wavelengths and fused them together. The demon grinned at him knowingly, as if he'd planned this entire conversation before it had actually happened. Which, come to think of it, he probably had.

"Yes, that could pose a problem for you, it's true," the demon admitted, turning and running a clawed finger down the side of the record player, eyes gleaming maniacally. "Though you've gotten much better at keeping me under wraps, haven't you, Soul?"

That was true too, Soul thought, allowing himself to feel a glimmer of pride, despite how terribly this conversation was going. It had been a long time since the demon had really been able to… invade his…

His mind flashed to a place full of gray, of blood seeping into the cracks of his senses, him powerless and motionless as his mind was held captive to the madness, that _other_ madness. The demon chuckled lowly as the color drained from Soul's face. The implications were clear. If he got stuck there again, the black blood would overtake him. If Black*Star came to rescue him, he could infect him. Fuck, he could do nothing.

"Why would you even warn me?" Soul snapped, his anger at himself spilling into his words. "Why not just take over and let it all happen?"

"Because it changes nothing," the demon smiled, his eyes gaining depth and intensity with the evil that began to shine more forcefully through them. "You're going to let it happen anyway."

"Like hell I am!" Soul spat. "I'm not letting you anywhere near our resonance."

It wouldn't happen like this, he thought, as his heart came to rest in his throat. They'd work on their resonance; figure out a way to keep him out of the gray place. There had to be a solution.

"If you say so," the demon said, incredulous. "I'm not sure you'll have much of a choice. Besides, if you really want to stop me… you know the solution, don't you?"

Soul stared at him blankly, temper seething. The demon smiled, and he paused to lift the needle on the record, taking care that Soul heard every syllable that he offered as the answer to Soul's plight.

"You tell her. And you go back to normal resonance… if you can still resonate, that is."

Soul glared at him a moment, and then slammed his fist down on the table, fed up with the demon's stupid fucking taunts. No, he couldn't tell her how he felt. There had to be another way.

"I'm not going to do that," Soul gritted out, his nails digging into his palms.

The demon smiled at him, self-satisfaction practically oozing out of him as he placed the needle back on the record.

"And that, Soul, is exactly what I'm counting on."

He didn't care that the demon _still_ hadn't answered his goddamn question; he needed to get out of here. The thrum of chaotic jazz met Soul's ears once more and he closed his eyes, forcing himself out of this place.

The sun was suddenly much too bright against his eyelids, the beams building pressure on his skin, warm and heavy. The weight on his shoulder was gone, but his foot was still asleep. Of course. He took a moment to finally accept that he might be a magnet for the absolute shittiest luck… except for maybe Crona, he thought guiltily.

Maka nudged him softly, and he opened one eye and peeked at her. He quickly got the impression that she'd been looking at him for a while, and the thought warmed his cheeks a little. Shaking her head slowly as if to clear it, she rubbed her eyes slowly and glanced around the plane. He realized that they weren't moving.

"Oh, we're here," he said, and she nodded with a smile, pointing at the last of the patrons exiting the plane. He grinned at her. "Good timing."

"Mhm," she said, standing up and hooking her bag over her shoulder. "Ready to go?"

He smiled. "Ready to face my future kidnappers? You bet."

They made their way into the airport, grabbed their backpacks, and he only had a second to worry about how exactly they were going to find the others before his ears picked up the snippet of a conversation.

"… _Told_ you that there were no giraffes in Malaysia, don't understand why you're so upset about-"

He turned and grinned at Maka, who was trying very hard not to giggle, and his worries vanished as the two of them spun around to meet their welcome wagon.

"Well hello, how nice of you to join us," Liz said, crossing her arms over the bright tunic and floppy hat that she'd clearly just purchased as part of the integration plan. Her sister, on the other hand, took off her favorite utterly conspicuous cowboy hat and dropped it on Maka's head.

"Welcome to paradise, my friends!" she yelled, throwing her hands in the air before relieving Maka of her bag. "Let's get you to camp."

Soul rolled his eyes, wondering how in the world they were going to keep a low profile with Patty around. Maka glanced between the two of them, skeptical.

"Camp?" she said, clearly questioning how the manicure-loving, sleeping-on-the-couch-is-pushing-it pair of them could possibly still be smiling after spending the night in a campsite.

"Oh yes," Liz said, her grin widening as she linked arms with Maka and led them out of the airport. "Don't worry, it's not so bad. But we've got some walking to do."

"Where are we headed?" Maka said, the determined, focused expression she reserved especially for missions gracing her features for the first time.

"You'll see," Liz said. "We'll get you settled in, and then we'll discuss the plan. We've already got a few leads that Kid just can't _wait_ to tell you about."

Soul sensed the twinge of sarcasm in her tone, and he grimaced. He was sure that whatever Kid had in store for them, it wouldn't be simple. Or particularly enjoyable.

His mind drifted back to his conversation with demon, and his eyes narrowed, resolve hardening. Whatever it was, he'd be staying sane for all of it.

* * *

**I just thought you should know:** That my foot fell asleep when I was writing this. :P I may or may not have a problem. See you guys in a few days!


	9. The Space Between

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying. I'm headed on vacation tomorrow to a (yet another) tiny island, so I'll hopefully have the chance to write out chapter 10 while I'm chillin' on the beach! If not, expect a chapter as soon as possible when I get home, of course. Do let me know what you think of this one, though! Things are gettin' set in motion. :)

* * *

All damn day they'd been walking. He scowled up at the setting sun that peeked through the expanse of canopy above them. His patience was wearing thin, and tried as he might to keep his frustration in check, his irritation mounted with every step.

There were five million different things he'd rather be doing, and they all weighed heavily on his brain. He'd give anything for a few gulps of milk out of the carton, or maybe a five course meal – the idea of three or four souls sliding down his throat was almost unbearably wonderful – but above all, it would be great to just_ sit the fuck down_ for a second.

Distracted as he was by his own bitterness, his foot caught one of the branches in their path and he tripped. This was getting ridiculous. He'd lost far too many battles with gravity today. It happened so often that he'd been demoted, moved to the back of the single file line they'd been forced to adopt.

He didn't understand how the three of them seemed to have the world's perfect balance, infuriatingly floating over all of the rocks and fallen trees in their path while he blundered about behind them like a fucking rhino. Though… there were some benefits to being at the back of the line. Mostly ones involving a certain scythe meister's already short skirt lifting up _ever_ so slightly when they had to cross a particularly big obstacle.

In addition to the occasional peep show, this preposterously long walk had its perks. He'd done a lot of… soul searching. He groaned inwardly, mentally berating himself at the unintentional pun.

He'd realized something. He didn't want to fight it anymore. Since this whole being-desperately-attracted-to-Maka thing was probably going to ruin him, he may as well come to terms with it. Granted, he'd still guard it from everyone else with his life… but he'd stop lying to himself, at the very least. He was done with trying to hold back.

And just like that, he accepted it; signed the consent form on his attraction and mailed it to himself. It felt curiously liberating, and it placated him enough that he didn't even feel guilty when his eyes wandered to her ass a little too often. He entertained himself via shameless gawking for the rest of the afternoon.

After an hour more, night was falling and the trees and branches had gotten so wild and thick that their backpacks were having trouble squeezing through the gaps. But amidst Liz's appeasements and encouragements, they pushed on towards the tiny light in the distance where their elusive 'camp' awaited them.

When they finally arrived, he couldn't believe it. There was no way in hell that Spirit knew about this.

Their path opened up into a large clearing, and three structures that could be roughly considered tents stood before them, black flaps blowing softly in the breeze. Still, the word 'tent' was almost laughable, he thought to himself. The central one, which could only have been Kid's (as the flaps had been tied back into perfectly identical triangles) had goddamn _columns_ lining the sides, for crying out loud. The other two tents that stood on either side were slightly smaller, with the image of Lord Death's mask tattooed onto their sides. Air mattresses that were much closer to beds than anything else peeked out from the interior. Dim yellow lanterns lined the clearing, flickering happily at their arrival and bathing the trees and their faces with an eerie glow. A few feet from the tents, a fire was blazing, casting more shadows onto Black*Star and Tsubaki's knowing smiles as they roasted marshmallows atop the flames.

"_This_ is us staying under the radar?" Soul said, his backpack hitting the damp earth beneath their feet with a thud.

"What, ten miles deep into the woods isn't low-key enough for you?" Black*Star countered with a laugh, his exuberance causing a smoking marshmallow to swing a little too close to Tsubaki's face. She ducked and sent him an exasperated look.

Soul wasn't convinced – surely this was too conspicuous, surely they should be sleeping in a ditch somewhere, right? His unease must have shown on his face because Black*Star grimaced at him.

"Oh, calm your tits, there's not a damn soul out here!" he said. "Your girl here would know if there was," he added, gesturing to Maka and winking.

Maka looked moderately annoyed at being called "your girl" (a realization that gave Soul the impression of being kicked numerous times in the stomach), and trudged off to one of the tents to put away her things without a word. Well, that couldn't be good news. Despite the fact that his meister was mysteriously pissed and that his legs were begging for respite, he seized his chance to fill Black*Star in on the demon's little secret.

"We need to talk," he said flatly, and dragged Black*Star away from the campsite and into the darkness of the forest, ignoring Black*Star's amused shouts of "Jesus, Soul, if you want a little fun in the woods, at least buy me dinner first!"

Once they were far enough away, Soul explained to Black*Star what he'd gleaned from the conversation with the demon. It was a mark of how much they'd been through that Black*Star was neither concerned about the black blood, nor angry with Soul for dragging him into it. Actually, he did the complete opposite of what any sane person would've done – he burst into laughter.

"You really know how to get yourself into some shit," he added with another chuckle, leaning back into the tree and crossing his legs. "But really, it seems like an easy fix to me. I'll just pull you both together faster. No room for the little fucker to jump in and pull any surprises. We'll work on it later."

"Are you sure you'll be able-" Soul started doubtfully. Black*Star's face immediately contorted into a mask of mock indignation.

"Of course I'm sure; don't you know who I am?!" Black*Star exclaimed. "Besides, there's not a drop of black blood out there that would dare infect _me_."

Soul rolled his eyes, but he had to appreciate Black*Star's blind optimism at times like this. A glimmer of hope took hold in his chest.

"Although…" Black*Star started, looking apologetic. "I hate to agree with your weird-ass demon friend, but... you really _could_ just tell her."

Soul smirked. "You do realize that would make that whole little blackmail plan of yours completely useless."

By the look on his face, it was clear that Black*Star had _not_ realized this, but he quickly recovered.

"Eh, what can I say? I'm a merciful god." He put his hands on his hips and looked up at the sky, smug. "Just think about it, will you?"

"Yeah, okay," said Soul, even though the chances of that happening were about as likely as Spirit boycotting Chupa Cabra's. Or Kid suddenly deciding the shape of his toilet paper no longer mattered.

They arrived back at the campsite at the tail end of a somewhat heated debate about the sleeping situation, where any worries – okay, _hopes_ was probably a more accurate word – he'd conjured up about being in a confined space with his meister that happened to include _beds_ were instantly put to rest. While the girls took the smaller tents, the males had somehow managed to inherit the column-ridden monstrosity. Soul noted with mild interest that he wasn't the only one sulking.

"Like I'd wanna sleep next to any of them anyway," Black*Star said, forcing a laugh while Soul threw his backpack on one of the air mattresses. "I don't even really need a weapon, why would I want to sleep in the same room as _her_, doesn't even make sense-"

Soul looked at him suspiciously, but said nothing. He opened his mouth to ask him something, but at that moment, Kid, all business, poked his head in and said, "We're briefing, let's go."

* * *

"So it's like hide-and-seek!" Patty squealed, clapping her hands together. Liz's resulting eye roll was so slight that Soul wasn't actually sure it happened, particularly in the low light of the fire.

"Sure, Patty, just like hide-and-seek," Liz acquiesced. "But instead of saying 'found ya' when we win, we'll put a gun to their head instead, okay?"

Patty bounced up and down with excitement, all disappointment about giraffes long forgotten, while Kid gave them the rest of the run-down.

On the whole, Kid's speech was simple – mostly because there wasn't much information to process. Soul had really hoped that this would be a true brief, that there would be a direct link or path or possibly a _plan_ for finding Crona, but instead, all they had were a bunch of suspicions. And some caves, evidently. That was their only lead – a series of caves near the forest could be a good place to start looking, Kid had said. Nobody asked him how he knew this, though all signs pointed to the file marked 'FOR LORD DEATH ONLY' that sat at his feet. Apparently they were all destined to become delinquents on this trip, Soul thought wryly.

"There are nine caves," Kid continued. "We'll split up into partners and search three each."

"Still no information on who could be doing all of this?" Tsubaki said, twirling black locks around her finger nervously.

"Frankly… no," Kid said, shoulders slumping. He held up the file, his disappointment plain on his face. "I'm pretty sure even my father has absolutely no clue."

"What if, um," Maka said, raising her hand in a way that immediately struck Soul as being far too adorable as she looked up earnestly at Kid. "What if we need Black*Star?"

Kid scratched his head, debating. "To be totally honest, these leads are all slight. You probably won't need to resonate. The likelihood that we'll find anything… it's pretty slim."

"Besides, you two can still fight, can't you?" said Black*Star. "It's not like you've both become completely dependent and usel-_unfflhuh?!"_

He glared at Soul, who was innocently wiping his finger on a leaf to clean off the residue of the marshmallow Maka had handed him to stuff in Black*Star's mouth. Next to Soul, Maka licked her fingers happily.

"Alright, let's turn in," Kid said, throwing a bucket of water on the flames. Soul watched the embers sizzle and dance, a sense of foreboding filling him. Their search began tomorrow. He stood up and started to gather his things. Black*Star leaned over him ominously and said, "And where do you think you're going?"

Soul raised an eyebrow at him, confused.

"To sleep? Some of us haven't been lying around getting foot rubs from Tsubaki all day," he scoffed. He'd been kidding – he couldn't imagine that anyone would voluntarily give Black*Star a foot rub, even Tsubaki – but for one impossible moment he could've sworn he saw Black*Star flush. Regardless, the ninja's mysterious embarrassment evaporated when Maka stood and turned to leave.

"Hah, well you're gonna have to deal a little longer, my minions," he cackled, grabbing Maka by the arm before she could escape. "We're going to practice."

* * *

He was going to kill Black*Star, he thought as their resonance broke apart and he slumped to the ground. How many more damn times were they going to do this? His soul felt stretched, reduced to worn elastic from overuse and he could see the fatigue starting to take hold on Maka as well, even though she was fighting it. Poor Maka, who didn't even know why this little session was happening but still trusted them completely. Soul pinched the bridge of his nose. He owed her so much.

"Again," Black*Star said with a determined smile. He was either oblivious to their exhaustion or he just didn't care. Soul was betting on the latter. But he was right, they had a job to do. Soul exhaled and curled his fists, bracing himself.

"Hybrid resonance."

By this point, their connection was almost instantaneous. Through practice, Black*Star had made good on his promise; the second they resonated, he slammed their wavelengths together with a force that knocked Soul breathless, particularly since hybrid resonance on its own already left him gasping. The familiar blue flames lined his eyes, and even with eyes shut, he watched as they danced to this electric, impossibly sublime ballad to which their resonance had become attuned.

With every attempt, it got simpler. He felt his soul respond to hers and leap into resonance with less and less effort. It was becoming a reflex; it almost felt like his soul was reaching out to Maka's on its own, coaxing and connecting their wavelengths without any resistance.

_Easy for you to say when I'm the one doing all of the work_, Black*Star scoffed in his mind, and Soul just laughed because it just felt so _good_ and all of the stress of the mission was completely lost on him when they resonated.

As practiced, they stopped, flipping the switch on their resonance all at once, and the three of them fell to the ground, panting. Soul's head was spinning.

"Can we stop, please?" he mumbled into his arm.

"Yeah," Black*Star said, whose face was pressed unabashedly into the dirt. Soul wasn't sure if the ninja was even aware of it.

They began the impossible task of getting back to the site, supporting and tugging each other forward as they walked. Soul may have possibly let his fingers linger against the side of Maka's neck just a little too long before they broke off from their little three-legged race. He was exhausted, and his inhibitions were next to nonexistent at the moment, and he figured she probably wouldn't have noticed anyway.

It was possible that she, too, may have followed him with her eyes just a little too long as he dragged himself into the tent and collapsed onto his bed, the smallest of shy smiles crossing her lips. But he probably wouldn't have noticed anyway.

* * *

**:3**


	10. So Contagious

**Author's Note:** Well hello friends :) Welcome to chapter 10, complete with plot overload, a pinch of foreshadowing and a 1-2 punch of UST. I don't even know what happened. Also, thoroughly in love with the song that inspires (and titles) this chapter, so please check out this lovely Acceptance song if you've got the time. It describes a certain scene to a T, in my opinion! Brownie points if you can guess which one. :D Enjoy~

* * *

Despite Soul's exhaustion, a restless sleep claimed him. His fingers curled into his blankets, gripping the cotton with a hint of desperation as he tried to absorb the shock of a sudden, inexplicable pain that wracked his body.

Even though he wasn't awake, it hurt. The pain took root and spread outward from the center of his chest. It was a heavy ache, not enough to seriously weaken him, but debilitating nonetheless. Dull and elongated, the sensation permeated his body in waves, a stark contrast to the swift bursts of energy that so often accompanied resonance. The pressing need to open his eyes, to identify the cause of this, overwhelmed him, but the sensation was strong enough that he had to struggle to make it happen.

Finally, he wrenched his eyes open. Within seconds, his eyes narrowed. He was getting fucking sick of the out-of-body adventures.

He found himself utterly alone, standing on a circular patch of sand that stretched only a few feet in diameter at most. All he could see was a massive black sea that was both foreboding and… somehow _tempting_, pitted against a backdrop of blue sky. He couldn't explain why, but the whole scene felt vaguely familiar.

It struck him as bizarre that this strange, lonely circle hadn't fallen prey to the rest of the abyss. Soul squinted at the waves as they curled against the sand, wondering what was preventing them from closing in. The waves snaked around some sort of invisible obstruction, probing endlessly in search of a weak spot. Upon closer inspection, he realized that there had been a line drawn carefully in the sand. A soft indentation ran along the ground, forming a barrier. It was clear that whoever had done this had done it well; the craftsmanship was delicate – it was sand, after all – but its creator had fashioned a seemingly perfect circle that kept the waves at bay.

Taking care not to step too close to the edge, Soul's eyes scanned the perimeter of the circle as he mused over who could have been responsible for this. His first inclination was Kid. Spending a painstakingly long time drawing perfect circles definitely sounded like Kid's idea of a perfect day. Soul was already making a mental note to tell him to immediately invest in a hobby, for god's sake, when he froze.

Barely visible, a pair of fingertips was clinging desperately to the line in the sand. They were small and delicate, and shook slightly from the effort of holding on. Soul's eyes widened and he kneeled, trying to peer deep into the mire to find the body of their owner. Through the swirls of black, his eyes searched frantically until his breath caught. An unmistakable burst of pink became visible through the muck.

He leaned closer. Yeah, it was Crona, without a doubt. The only difference was that this Crona looked younger, almost childlike. Tiny limbs hung limply as the sea pushed them around, wisps of hair tangling with each other as Crona stared at Soul with sad eyes.

Soul stared back, transfixed and helpless. He had to get him out. As if on command, Crona's other hand shot up through the blackness, extending itself to Soul above the waves. Soul relaxed. _That was easy_, he thought, and instinctively started to reach for Crona's hand.

He stopped. It was too easy.

Crona blinked at him through the waves, and Soul swallowed hard. The sea of madness began to churn, taunting him. He knew what would happen if he crossed that line. He pulled his hand back and tried to ignore the pain he saw in Crona's expression as he rose to his feet again, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other.

_What's the problem?!_ his subconscious screamed at him. _Crona needs you. Just do it!_ He cursed himself for being afraid; what would Maka say if she knew he was standing here like a goddamn statue while Crona was in trouble?

His hopes sank further as more hands began to rise from the depths. Black blood glided slowly down disembodied arms like slick, black honey as each hand silently implored him for rescue. Head pounding, he counted them. Eight. Eight hands, including Crona's, fingers splayed out in panic as their owners were held prisoner beneath the surface.

Soul's heart hammered painfully, but he knew he didn't have a choice. He reached his hand back out to Crona, eyes conveying a silent apology for making his friend wait so long. Nerves tingling, he watched with a sense of finality as his hand gripped Crona's tightly.

He gasped as a surge of sickeningly warm blackness spiraled up his arm, and it was both sharp pain and pure bliss as it tugged him forward. The familiar trickle of blood seeping slowly into his consciousness became a flood, crashing through his defenses as it burst into the tiny circle of sand, enveloping his entire body in liquid darkness.

He was drowning, lost in it. He felt his mouth stretch into a leering, insane smile of its own accord and he watched as Crona's face mirrored his, exploding into a twisted grin as their hands remained clasped together under the waves.

With the last traces of his self-control, he slammed his eyes shut just as he felt the distant cackle of the little ogre echo through his bones.

"Soul. Wake up."

Soul's eyes flew open and he found himself staring into two golden eyes that absolutely exuded impatience. Still tense from the aftereffects of his dream, Soul regarded Kid silently. Kid glared at him, and suddenly Soul found himself with a face full of pillow. As terrifying as the dream had been, waking up to an irritated reaper in his face really wasn't that much better.

"Get up," Kid said again as he crossed to Black*Star's side of the tent. Black*Star grumbled and rolled over, mumbling something about gods and beauty sleep.

"We've wasted enough time," Kid said, tugging the covers off of Black*Star and holding them out of his reach as the ninja lunged to snatch them back. "Get outside, we're leaving in ten."

Soul stood up groggily and started to make his bed, since he knew that would pacify Kid, while Kid fully assumed his role as Black*Star's personal alarm clock. Soul went back over the dream in his mind, cataloguing it for later. A tiny island, a perfect circle. Crona in trouble. But why had there been _eight_ hands? He committed the feeling of drowning in the madness to memory and then tried to push it out of his mind.

He was jerked from his thoughts when Black*Star started yelling for Tsubaki to come in and transform so he could make Kid properly pay for interrupting his slumber. Soul took Kid's silence as his cue to _get the fuck out of the tent_. He couldn't help grinning slightly when he heard the rustle and thud of Black*Star being forcibly tipped onto the ground off of his mattress behind him.

The ninja's stream of expletives got progressively quieter as Soul made his way toward Maka, who was rolling her eyes at Black*Star's antics on the other side of the clearing.

"Morning," she said, tightening a pigtail and smiling at him. He was so damn glad to be out of that dream that he grinned back at her and spontaneously pulled her into a hug, relishing the feel of her cheek against his chest. He felt her smile against him and his uneasiness disappeared completely.

"How fast do you think we can search three caves?" he asked.

"Probably in a few hours or so, why?" she replied, words muffled. "Wanna do it faster than Black*Star?"

He smirked down at her; that was a pretty cool idea, he had to admit… but he had wanted to tell her about the dream.

"Nah. I just need to talk to you about something afterwards."

It felt so good that he could share it with her. Recently he'd spent so much time trying to keep things from her out of necessity. It was refreshing to be able to confide something in her again.

"Sounds good," she said, pulling out of his embrace. "In the meantime, though… let's hunt," she murmured with a slightly devious smile. He raised an amused eyebrow at her as her eyes glinted conspiratorially. There was nothing he loved more than Maka on a mission.

As they made their way out of the woods and began trudging through the tiny paths that crisscrossed the rice fields, the feeling in Soul's chest resurfaced to nag at him. It wasn't like the pain from the dream, but it was still more intense than the spent, stretched feeling he'd felt the night before. He sighed, exasperated. He was too strung out.

He wondered if Maka was feeling the same way, but he wouldn't ask. The last thing he wanted, on top of everything else, was for her to think he was weak. So he kept his mouth shut and watched her closely – not like that was much of a change from his normal habits. The occasional deep breath and hand pressed to her chest told him everything he needed to know.

They searched their three allotted caves, trying their best not to get their hopes up and failing miserably every time. Kid's suspicions had been right; every search turned up no results. By the end of the morning, they were depressed, annoyed and thirsty.

"Let's go find some shade," Soul said, pointing at a small patch of forest in the distance. "We'll head back after."

As they drew closer to the woods, the sound of rushing water met his ears, and suddenly there was nothing more enticing than the idea of cold water on his face. The shade of the trees rested on their grateful shoulders as they wound through the forest until they both stopped, slightly bewildered at the scene before them. Maka gasped softly.

The forest had opened up slightly to reveal a small natural pool. The water within it was blue and clear and almost as breathtaking as the girl standing next to him, he had to admit. But the water in the basin paled in comparison to the true marvel: a swiftly flowing waterfall, with clear rivulets of water flowing smoothly over the rock face that loomed before them. It was immense; no wonder they'd been able to hear it from so far away. The streams cascaded down in every direction, marking the entire rock face with strips and lines of chaotic white.

Maka walked silently to the side of the pool and splashed her face with water, sighing.

"That feels so nice, I could just dive in," she said behind her hands.

A smirk crossed Soul's face, the urge almost too powerful to resist. Shit. He really shouldn't. But even as he told himself not to, he was moving up behind her. If she was going to make it that simple, he could only oblige.

"Have a nice swim, then," he said, and nudged her into the water. She shrieked and started to topple in. He laughed, crossing his arms triumphantly, when he felt something latch onto his leg. Before he could even look down, he felt hit feet leave the ground and he plunged towards the water, sprawling inelegantly in midair.

Damn her reflexes.

He crashed into the pond and resurfaced immediately, shaking his hair out and spluttering. They stood there fully clothed and utterly drenched. Maka was surveying him smugly, a victorious smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She was far too self-satisfied, and he needed to fix that. He stilled and grinned at her evilly.

"I wouldn't look so proud if I were you," he said, inching closer to her, eyes gleaming. Her eyes widened slightly in response, but her smile only grew bolder at the challenge.

"Oh, I don't know about that," she answered, tilting her chin up to look him square in the eyes. "Watch your ankles next time. Pulling you in was a piece of cake."

"Yeah, well… they're not quite as fat as yours," he offered lightly, fighting a smile because he knew that would wind her up. In a second, her eyes grew hooded, dark and dangerous. He edged closer still. Their faces were inches apart, and he fought to keep his heart under control as they sized each other up. Despite the playfulness, she was watching him like an enemy, and his guard came up two seconds too late.

"Your soul is mine," she said sweetly, and then sent him rocketing toward the bottom of the pond. He nearly choked on water at her choice of words. If she only knew how true that was.

He swam under the water and grabbed her leg, pulling her towards him with a yank. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close in order to throw her, but she latched her arms around his neck to steady herself. He tried to tug her arms away to no avail. They glared at each other. Stalemate.

It took him a couple more seconds to become aware of the way he was holding her: one hand wrapped around her back and fixed tightly onto her hip, the other a little higher on the back of her thigh than was probably allowed. A strange warmth spread from the center of his chest to the rest of his limbs and then vanished. He tried to look anywhere but at his hands as he vehemently ordered his cheeks not to turn pink. Chancing a glance at Maka, he realized with mingled relief and disappointment that something had distracted her.

"Soul… is that a cave?" she said slowly, nodding her head at the waterfall. He snorted. What, had she gone delusional?

"I'm pretty sure that's a waterfall," he explained slowly, like he was talking to a child. "Maybe I should start chopping you for a change."

She was too damn fast for him. He rubbed his head angrily, his head smarting. Apparently her chops were equally lethal in the water. Regardless, he'd had the presence of mind to keep his other hand resting on her hip. He wasn't ready to let go yet.

"No, really, look," she said, pointing.

Behind the falls, hidden partially by hanging plants and water droplets, was a black tunnel. He could see it now. They glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, silently agreeing to investigate.

The only way up was to climb the falls; the rock face wasn't too steep, and Soul dutifully led the way because Maka had squawked about him looking up her skirt if she went first. He threw on an injured grimace, insisting that he'd _never_ do such a thing.

They slid silently into the cave and waited for their eyes to adjust, listening intently for any noise. All was silent as they made their way down the passageway. Soul was on edge, hair prickling on the back of his neck. They inched forward further, their blindness beginning to dissipate, when suddenly he heard a loud crack and footsteps, followed by voices.

They stared at each other in horror, and he reacted so fast that he didn't even have time to process. He yanked her into a crevice at the corner of the cave, intent on their immediate escape. He'd been proud of himself. Survival had been the only thought on his mind, for once.

And then suddenly he'd realized what he'd done: in the miniscule space, their bodies were pressed together. Much too close together.

His hands weren't even touching her, pressed instead against the wall on either side of her arms, but it didn't matter. Skintight clothes, made tighter by their stint in the pond, left little to the imagination as Soul found himself pinned to a rock face for the second time – or the first _real_ time, he supposed.

He tried to fight the shudder that threatened to pass through him as he felt her every curve press flush against him, every jibe he'd ever made about her chest coming back to torture him as he swallowed thickly. Their eyes met, tentative and dazed, and he held his breath as his eyes flew traitorously down to her lips.

It was the shock, surely, that caused it, but as he stared down at her, trying to fight every impulse his body was begging of him, he felt it.

A horrifyingly familiar blue flame began to build in his chest. Past the point of his control, his soul stretched, basking in the flame and growing in heat and intensity. His eyes flew back up to Maka's in panic as he felt his wavelength emerge slowly from the confines his chest and greedily stretch toward hers. She stared frantically back at him, eyes flickering between his wavelength and his face, utterly bewildered as her soul initiated the same response. They gasped in tandem when somehow, impossibly, _deliciously_, their souls connected.

_Soul? What's happening, _he heard her say in his mind.

_I-I don't know_, he choked out before he slammed his eyes shut and broke the connection, his soul snapping back into his body.

His ears were ringing as they stared at each other, searching wordlessly for an explanation in the other's eyes as the warmth continued to surge under his skin. Their eyes both widened when they heard the voices inching closer. He'd momentarily forgotten that they were supposed to be hiding.

"No, I already told you," a gravelly voice he didn't recognize was saying, "He wants all of them, even the other Shibusen brat. Otherwise we would've killed the other one by now, with his _obnoxious_ weapon griping about being fed every hour of the night…"

The voices stopped mere feet from where they were standing, but the bastards hadn't brought any light. He couldn't make out their faces.

"How much longer do we have to wait for the last one?" said another voice impatiently.

"Relax. It's only a matter of time. The keychain was planted three days ago. They'll be on their way, and then that little pigtailed meister of his will bring him right to us," the first man cackled.

Soul felt Maka draw in a slow, silent breath against his chest. He shut his eyes. _Shit._

"Do we have everything cleared out?" the first voice asked.

"Everything but the dregs," replied the second gleefully, and a loud creak echoed throughout the cave as he pushed against something metal.

"Excellent," said the first. "Let's go. Don't want to keep him waiting, not since…" The voice trailed off into silence.

Slowly the footsteps disappeared down the hallway. The sound of a sloshy substance that accompanied their footfalls sent waves of sound back down the tunnel long after the men were gone. Soul and Maka leaned against each other a minute longer, not daring to move. Finally Maka took a deep breath and slid along the wall and out of the crevice. Almost imperceptibly, Soul felt a trace of his wavelength glide after her, still seeking hers. Reflexively, he clamped down on it, his mind reverting back to what had just happened.

Had they just resonated? _Unintentionally?_ He certainly hadn't initiated it. It had almost felt like their wavelengths had done it on their own. He shook his head. That wasn't possible, was it?

Maka walked further into the cave, disappearing momentarily from sight while Soul followed further behind, lost in his thoughts.

"What's this…?" Maka said softly as her boot made contact with metal.

In the dim light, he watched her bend down and run her fingers along something dark and concave; a massive saucer of sorts, by the looks of it. When she stood, her shoulders were hunched and tense.

"Soul…" She turned around and held up her hand to him.

Her fingers were black.

* * *

**Just wanted to say:** Yes, that scene in the sand *is* supposed to resemble something from the SE universe. Stay tuned for more on that. :3 And also... thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favorites from last chapter, and to everyone that's been following this silly tale of mine over the past couple of months. I can't believe this is chapter 10! It feels like a big landmark, for some reason. To everyone that's helped me and encouraged me to keep going: you guys are the bees' knees. Check for Chapter 11 in the next 1-2 weeks, as usual :D


	11. The Glow Inside

**Author's Note:** So, remember that time I said last chapter was uber-long? Yes, well. This one got a bit out of hand. :P Sorry about the delay, but this has been sort of a rough few days, so thanks for waiting on me guys. That being said, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my beautiful friend Angie, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly earlier this week. She was only 23. I'm pretty sure she knew nothing of Soul Eater, and she certainly had no idea that I wrote fan fiction, but this is what I pour my heart into and this is all I have to give. So, Angie, here's a chapter that I absolutely love. Almost as much as I love you.

* * *

Soul stared at Maka's outstretched hand as a trickle of black rolled slowly off of her finger. Blood and something that sounded an awful lot like frenzied jazz music pounded in his ears. He ran two of his fingers along her palm and inspected the substance with feigned indifference, running his thumb along his blackened fingers.

"Well, at least we know we've got the right guys," he said, lightheaded. As if there had been any doubt after they'd mentioned _that little pigtailed meister_.

"We should have followed them," Maka said angrily, wiping her hand against the rock. Soul gaped at her. Of all the things the two of them should have done in the past few minutes - like maintaining control of their resonance-link-gone-batshit, for example - following those two idiots was definitely not one of them.

"Are you crazy?" he demanded. "They're clearly part of this massive 'kidnap everyone with black blood' thing!"

"Exactly," she said, eyebrows drawing together. "Maybe we can still track them, let's-"

Soul grabbed her wrist hurriedly as she tried to move past him, seriously starting to consider that she might be going nutty. It wasn't like her to be this reckless. That was his job. Normally he'd be the first to run in without a plan. This resonance thing was throwing everything for a loop.

"Listen," he said, realizing that he hated and loved what contact with her skin was doing to the strange warmth in his chest that still hadn't disappeared. "I know you want to go after Crona, but this is the only lead we've got. We can't screw it up by letting them find us now."

She glared up at him, clearly getting ready to fight him on it, and he prepared himself for an onslaught of chops and general abuse… but then miraculously she relaxed, albeit begrudgingly, her wrist falling limp around his fingers.

"Since when did you become the rational one," she muttered, and he chuckled as he released her.

She stooped again to examine the metal once more, eyes narrowed in concentration in the dim light. Soul busied himself with trying to quell the strange feeling that was still surging in his soul, an urgent yearning that only seemed to get worse the longer he watched her. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He could tell by the set of her shoulders that she was also tense, but he watched it gradually abate as she absorbed herself in her task.

She'd just relaxed completely, focused entirely on her inspection, when suddenly she tensed again, gripping one of Soul's pant legs in alarm. He looked down at her curiously, and saw that she'd gone completely immobile, eyes focused on something far away, cloudy and distant.

He knew that look. Damn it all to _hell_ did he know that look. Soul Perception.

Her breath stilled, and Soul bent down so that he was level with her, watching her carefully as her eyes made the journey back to his side, pulling back from whoever she'd sensed. Her hand tightened against his jeans, and Soul watched as the other curled slowly into a fist.

"What is it?" he breathed, his eyes moving between each of hers. Hopefully she'd say it was a local, or hell, he'd even take Black*Star, come to lay waste to his love life (or lack thereof) some more. As long as she didn't say it was either of those two assholes.

Too bad he was never lucky enough for that shit.

"One's coming back," she said softly.

The two of them stood, eyes sweeping the cave. There was nowhere to hide. Well, other than that goddamn crevice-built-for-one that would haunt him in his nightmares. There was no way he was going back in there. Before he could figure out how to convince her to get into the crevice and let him be the martyr, Maka's face set with determination.

"Transform," she whispered, the familiar twitch of her fingers catching his unenthusiastic eye.

"What?!" he hissed back, taking the way she was sliding her foot into fighting stance to mean that their target was getting closer. "We can't even resonate, Maka!" Though, actually, he silently amended, they _could_ resonate – against their will and better judgment, apparently.

"Just do it, Soul," she said through clenched teeth. "We won't fight unless we have to, okay?"

Soul huffed, adding this to the list of reasons why she'd gone absolutely insane, but transformed anyway. She backed into the wall, clutching his scythe form tightly as she slid along the rock, toeing the line along the cave wall at a low crouch. He tried valiantly not to equate this to another time when she was stalking toward him in the darkness of their kitchen…

_Snap out of it_! he ordered, thoroughly disgusted with how easily distracted he'd become these days. He'd never become a Death Scythe if he kept this up.

Forcing himself to focus, he listened as the footsteps drew closer. Suddenly, they stopped completely, just when he could just barely make out the outline of a person hovering a few yards away in the darkness. He had a sinking feeling that they weren't going to need a hiding place.

Maka bit her lip and crouched lower, clearly mirroring his train of thought. There was a brief standoff as the shadowy figure and Maka regarded each other, and then the man spoke.

"The final piece," the man said, voice shaking with barely suppressed glee. With no face to accompany the words, the darkness made the soft laugh that escaped from him all the more menacing. It was a thick and choked sound, like exhaust being forced through a rusty tailpipe, and it put all of Soul's senses on high alert.

Their adversary took a couple of steps forward and stopped again. Soul saw a quick flash of steel appear in each of the man's hands, and Maka's grip around him tightened.

"You're early," he said after a moment, the giddy twist in his voice raising an octave as he took several more steps toward them. The soft echoes of his steps bounced dully off the cave walls on either side of them.

Soul glanced down at Maka, whose hands were shaking more than they normally did before a fight. It surprised him. He wanted to say something, to break the strange tension he could feel coursing through her. But he also couldn't break the silence. He recognized this for what it was: the strained moment before combat where their opponent always gave too much away. They needed the information now more than ever.

"Such a sweet girl," the man continued, taking longer, more purposeful steps now. Maka's grip on him was bordering on suffocating. "Bringing everything we need, and sooner than we thought. Very good."

He stretched out that final piece of praise like he was talking to a damn animal, and it made Soul so livid that it almost made him forget that they were in serious trouble.

"Let's get this guy, Maka," Soul muttered, materializing for a moment in the reflection of the blade. "I'm already sick of listening to this shit."

"Just another second," she said, her voice wavering as the man started to speak again.

"Now, now… no need for the hostility," he began, as he started to become slightly more visible, eyes glinting in the darkness as he surveyed the two of them. "If you'll just hand over that little partner of yours, I'll be going."

_Little?!_ Soul was one more bad insult away from jumping out of scythe form and strangling this guy himself. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that Maka had started to shake even harder, though he still had no idea what the hell was making her so nervous.

"W-What do you want with him?" she said, trying to keep her voice steady. Soul looked down at the top of her head with concern.

"Oh, it's nothing, really," he said smoothly. "A project of sorts. Nothing to worry about… we'll just need some of that black blood in his system."

He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful, before his face slid into a grin. He closed the remaining bit of distance between them with a final few steps. "Though… we'll probably need a lot."

Soul rolled his eyes. This guy was so lame. He wished it wasn't so dark; he still couldn't make out what this guy really looked like. He must have darker features, Soul mused, for him to still be so difficult to see. His whole act seemed to be working on Maka, however, as her face had contorted into a mask of pure anger. When she spoke again, all of the anxiousness in her voice had fled.

"I will _never_ let you take him," she said softly, and lunged forward, swinging him towards their opponent with a mere flick of her wrists.

What was she doing?! What happened to 'just another second?' He hadn't even told them anything yet, he thought exasperatedly. Well, she'd done it now, so he may as well get his shit together. He braced himself as the attacks started flying.

The girl was lethal, Soul thought, his adrenaline kicking in as she swung him up, down, and back again, blade clashing with the two knives their attacker had produced from his sleeves. He wouldn't be tough to beat, Soul decided: his stance was sloppy and his attacks were lazy. He was either really bad or he wasn't trying.

Soul realized the truth of his words as Maka took another swing at the man's chest and he blocked it sluggishly. _He wasn't trying. _Which meant that he was stalling while he waited for backup, or that had some other motive. Neither of which could be good news for them.

"Maka," Soul said urgently as she aimed a swift swing at the man's knees that he only barely dodged. "Let's just kill him so I can have dinner and we can get out of here."

She didn't answer at first, and Soul let out a yell of frustration as she blocked again, sending one of the knives spiraling into the blackness further down the tunnel.

"We can't, Soul, he's not a pre-kishin," she yelled back, letting out a small shriek as she tried to swipe the other knife from his hand.

As the man jumped back to dodge, a small flash of white caught Soul's eye: a piece of paper had escaped from the man's pocket, and it floated slowly on the air, zigzagging back and forth before settling onto the ground behind him.

_What is that?_ Soul thought, catching fleeting glimpses of this wrinkled, worn clue that they so desperately needed between Maka's attacks. He was pretty sure Maka had seen it too; she was pushing their opponent back and inching them forward, closer and closer to their goal. A lunge, a parry and another step forward brought them close enough that he could probably _just_ reach it if-

"Soul, go!" Maka yelled, her demand meeting his ears with a splendid sort of cohesion as he readied himself and she swung the blade close to the floor. His human form burst through the metal with a flash as he snatched the paper from the floor and morphed back into scythe form. Metal clashed a final time, and Maka sent their opponent crashing into the cave wall with a thud.

Not stopping to investigate the damage, she took off down the tunnel and into the startlingly bright light of day, her boots sliding and scraping down the face of the waterfall as she threw them into the forest. They burst into the brush and she broke into a sprint, putting as much distance between them and the cave as possible while Soul urged her on with the occasional encouragement, their only lead to finding Crona clenched tightly in his fist.

He wasn't sure how long they'd been running when they both started to feel safe again. Maka was so exhausted that when she finally brought her tired limbs to a stop, she simply collapsed. Soul just barely managed to transform before she hit the ground, catching her head and neck in his lap. They regarded each other for a moment, exhaustion and relief relayed in equal parts between them. Soul fell back against the ground, dead leaves crunching agitatedly beneath his head.

They laid there for an immeasurable amount of time, Maka's head propped against his hip bone as they stared at the tops of the trees. As the light started to fade into the warm, lazy haze of late afternoon, he unclenched his fist and stared blankly at the wrinkled ball in his hand. He hoped that whatever this was, it would be enough.

With a start, he suddenly became hyper-aware of the fact that Maka was watching him, eyes resting half-lidded and concerned against his side.

"Soul…" she began, and then slowly bit her lip, clearly rethinking whatever she wanted to say. But then, in typical Maka fashion, she steeled herself and trudged on. "You know that no matter what's going on, you can tell me, right?"

Honestly, there were so many things going on right now that he wasn't really sure what she meant.

She sat up and did the best and worst thing she could have possibly done. Pulling him up and scooting closer to him, she brought their hands together, slowly threading her fingers through his.

It was something she'd done a million times before, but this time, he felt his soul flex and stretch in response, the temptation to wind his wavelength around hers and bring her even closer almost overwhelming. He swallowed the colossal lump that had formed in his throat.

She squeezed his hand sympathetically and he could feel the vibration of it in his soul. His breath caught; his already-shaky self-control couldn't take much more of that.

"… I know that you and Black*Star are hiding something," she hedged.

He went abruptly motionless, taking a sudden, invested interest in a bird that was hopping along the ground a few feet from them. Yes, focus on the bird, he thought, and not the fact that Maka had caught on to the very thing that could ruin _every_thing.

"It seems like it's been bothering you, and I just wanted you to know that you can tell me if you want to," she said, her face breaking into a tentative smile. "That's what partners are for, right?"

Well, the lump in his throat wasn't going anywhere. In fact, he was pretty sure it had swollen to boulder-like proportions as the bird he'd been watching took flight and he was forced to drag his heavy eyes to meet hers. Her expression was so earnest, so troubled that he was pretty sure he was going to die from all of the guilt that pressed in on his mind. Soul closed his eyes, trying to figure out how to tell her that, yes, that's what partners are for, but that didn't work when what he was hiding could make them _lose their partnership_.

"Maka," he said, running a hand through his hair. He realized with a jolt that he had started to trace slow circles on Maka's thumb with his own, and he nearly choked. He didn't even look up to see what her face looked like. He chose instead to glare his thumb, ordering it to stay put.

Excellent. As if he didn't already have enough to deal with, his body had decided to stop listening to him again. He took a deep breath and tried to start again.

"It's just that I-" he said, when suddenly, he was cut off again by a rustling in the trees beside them. Maka's hand squeezed his tightly out of nervousness, both of them tensing as they listened to the approaching sound.

He was fully prepared for the reprise of their shadowy cave-assassin, so it was to his utmost surprise when instead, the form of an agitated, equally astonished Death the Kid burst through a particularly dense patch of forest and caught sight of them.

"What are you two doing here?" he said suspiciously. Soul didn't miss the ever-so-slight raise of his eyebrow at their intertwined hands. _Observant bastard_, he thought as he reluctantly slid his hand away from Maka's and got up to stand before Kid.

In response to his question, Soul pulled out the wrinkled ball of paper and placed it in Kid's hand. Intrigued, Kid slowly pulled it apart and read it, the crinkle of the paper building the tension in Soul's spine.

"… Interesting."

* * *

"What the hell is this, it's just numbers!" Black*Star said, throwing the paper into the air with a flourish and resuming the pull-ups he'd been doing on one of the bars that held up their tent. "Doesn't seem very scary to me. Especially since I'm number one. All of the other numbers bow before me anyway!"

"They're not numbers, they're _coordinates_," Maka tried to say over his obnoxious laughter. She raised her voice even louder. "You know, like longitude and latitude? GPS!? Did you learn any geography in school? Honestly…"

She muttered something that sounded a bit like 'hopeless idiot' before giving up and sitting down on the logs around the fire pit with a huff next to the rest of the group. She handed the paper back to Kid and shoved her face onto her knees. Soul rolled his eyes at how easily Black*Star could get her worked up.

"Listen, I know my father will be in contact tonight, so if you could all-" Kid started to say. And then suddenly, the mirror propped against the log behind him started to go fuzzy and ring as if on command, dim yellow lines crisscrossing their stunned reflections.

Kid turned and glared at Soul and Maka, reprimanding them soundlessly that, oh right, _they weren't supposed to be here._

For fuck's sake, Soul thought as he grabbed Maka, ignoring her squeal of protest. He tumbled them both over the back of the log they were sitting on just as Lord Death's cheerful "Why hello!" filled the clearing.

Apparently Shinigami, Stein and Spirit had all decided to be present for this little check-up. More than a little paranoid, Soul gritted his teeth, bunching up his legs to make sure his feet weren't sticking out. He could still sense Maka fuming at him for her sudden uprooting. He kept his gaze carefully and innocently trained on his toes.

Kid filled everyone in on the black blood and the attacker, and then produced the paper, asking if they could figure out where the coordinates led to while they continued their search. Kid had just gotten into explaining his next plan of attack when Death interrupted him.

"Who did you say it was that found these coordinates?" he said, scratching his head.

Soul's neck snapped up to look at Maka, but for once in his life, Black*Star managed to think on his toes. Or maybe he just had a massive ego and wanted all of the credit, Soul thought shrewdly.

"I did!" he said, punching the air with his fist. "I snatched it right out of his hand like the amazing assassin I am, of course!"

"That's interesting," Stein drawled, tilting his head to the side. "Since we've been watching you all morning, and all we saw was you telling Tsubaki how pretty you think camellia flowers are."

Everyone turned and stared at Black*Star as he blanched scarlet, and Soul had to stuff his fist into his mouth to keep from snorting. Oh god, this was too good. About time the little asshole got a taste of his own medicine.

"I-It was a quick fight," Black*Star stammered for a moment before he regained his composure. "Too easy for a big star like me! You must have missed it."

Black*Star flustered had to be one of the strangest, most rewarding things Soul had ever seen in his life. He could definitely get used to seeing the god of mortification dethroned a little bit longer, he thought smugly, until Death spoke again and wiped the smirk off his face.

"Oh, and you haven't seen Soul or Maka around, have you?"

Soul met Maka's eyes again, guilty amusement flowing between them.

"Why would we have seen them? You took them off the mission," Kid said smoothly, not quite answering the question.

"Well, just in case you do happen to find them, please remind them that disobeying a direct order is grounds for immediate expulsion!" he said cheerfully, bouncing up and down. "Just in case they'd forgotten."

The group visibly tensed, Maka most of all, whose eyes had gone wide with terror. Soul waved his hand in front of her face. She didn't move. They knew Maka's kryptonite, that was for sure. Threatening expulsion worked better than a Reaper Chop every time.

He realized that there had been several seconds of silence on the other side of the call, and he had just enough time to ponder this before the explosion happened.

_"YOU CAN'T EXPEL MY MAKA!"_ Spirit howled, launching into an angry tirade. Maka's face morphed into the mask of baleful annoyance that she always adopted when her father tried to fight her battles. Soul clasped his hands together, imitating Spirit's love-struck monologue while Maka giggled silently. The din of Death and Spirit's voices faded into the background slightly as Stein spoke again.

"Well, since you two have already managed to get over there, I expect you'll use this opportunity to experiment with hybrid resonance a bit more," he said.

"Who are you talking to?" Black*Star grumbled, clearly still annoyed with Stein's omniscience from before. "We told you, Soul and Maka aren't here."

"Well, again, if you do happen to see them," Stein said slowly. "Tell them that next time, it might be a good idea to find a better hiding spot when you're talking to someone who can see souls."

… Well, shit. Soul felt the color drain from his face; he could perfectly imagine his and Maka's souls glowing smugly behind the log, all the time completely, blatantly exposed to Stein's stupid ability. He poked his head above their hiding place and glared at Stein.

"Nice to see you too," Stein said, the corners of his eyes wrinkling slightly, even though his expression remained stern. He turned to Kid and nodded at him.

"Like I said, experiment. I think you know what to do," he said, before he waved goodbye and disappeared into the mirror.

Kid nodded once more at his reflection and then turned to face the group, locking eyes with Soul.

"Come on," he said, motioning them back into the woods. "There's something I need to show you."

* * *

**I'll try:** So hard to get the next chapter out within the next week. Thanks for reading, y'all. :) I'm going to reply to the reviews from last chapter right now! I love every single one of you.


	12. Staring At You

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the wait! I hope you guys enjoy this one. It was one of the first things that came into my head when I was first coming up with this whole shabang, so I'm excited to share it with you :) You finally get a glimpse of what that pesky cover photo is all about... ;) Enjoy~

* * *

They were quite the group, Soul mused as the seven of them wound their way through the trees in pursuit of whatever it was that Kid had to show them. The walk was starting to drag on, and he prayed that it wouldn't be another long trek; it was getting late as it was, and the day had been trying enough.

At the very least, he thought slyly, he had something new to entertain him this time.

He turned to look behind him and sought out Black*Star, who seemed to be trying to put as much distance between him and the rest of the group (or, more likely, between him and Tsubaki) as possible. The chain scythe kept shooting worried glances back his way, Soul noticed, but Black*Star's eyes remained fully focused on the ground despite her best efforts to catch his eye.

Soul's face slid into a full-fledged shit-eating grin as he hung back and mirrored Black*Star's pace, gliding slowly to the back of the line. It was payback time. He eyed his friend carefully as he fell in step beside him, wondering how best to approach this. He was playing with fire, he knew, but he couldn't pass this up.

"So… camellia flowers," he finally said, trying and utterly failing to keep a straight face. Black*Star shot him a glare that could melt iron, but said nothing. Soul pressed on.

"Roses don't do it for you, hm?" he asked, chuckling. "I'd always pegged you for a dandelion guy, actually. Or maybe sunflowers or some shit." He let out a hoot of laughter and doubled over, ignoring Black*Star's clearly mounting irritation.

"All I said was that they were _sort of _pretty, Stein's full of shit," Black*Star snapped, his attempts at self-defense only causing Soul's body to shake harder with laughter.

The ninja's face contorted with annoyance for a moment longer before it suddenly smoothed out, taking Soul by surprise.

"Besides, don't know what you find so funny," Black*Star exclaimed with a laugh. "It's not like you're earning any gold medals in hiding from Maka that you loooov-"

Soul slapped his hand over Black*Star's mouth, immediately regretting his decision to gloat.

"Has anyone ever told you that _you are_ _so fucking loud_?" Soul hissed, snapping his neck toward the rest of the group to see if they'd heard. "And will you stop with all of the gold puns?!"

Liz, who'd taken up residence near the back of the line, turned back and glanced suspiciously at Soul's hand, which was still clapped incriminatingly across Black*Star's face. He rounded on Black*Star.

"Okay, listen," he said, lowering his voice. "We're even now, so let's call off this blackmail stuff and we can just keep all of this a secret, alright?" At this, Black*Star's face split into its normal evil smile.

"Oh no. That's the difference between us, Soul," Black*Star said smugly as he strutted forward again, arms sliding behind his head as all of his confidence came back in a rush. "Nothing's going on with me and _my_ partner. Tell her whatever you want. You've still got a price to pay."

Soul stopped abruptly, his mouth falling open as he gawked at his friend's retreating back. He wondered how one person could be in so much denial. Well, whatever. Despite what Black*Star had said in that classroom oh-so-long ago, Soul was pretty sure he wasn't the only one that wanted into his partner's panties.

By the time the two of them had caught up to the rest of the group, Kid was tapping his foot impatiently, arms crossed in exasperation as they stumbled into the clearing. Soul resigned himself to the fact that he and Black*Star would always be the main recipients of Kid's stress backlash. Probably deservedly so, he thought as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, but that wasn't the point.

He belatedly realized that they were standing in the same clearing where he and Maka had been earlier today before Kid had burst in on them. Now that he thought about it, it was odd that Kid had been wandering around the forest all on his own. What had he been doing all the way out here?

Kid bent down and grabbed a stick, then began sweeping it across the ground, clearing the earth of leaves and debris. Maka walked over to stand next to Soul, frowning and tilting her head as Kid started to draw something in the dirt.

He started making lines, taking extra care, as usual, to make sure that everything was the same length. Soul mentally prepared himself for an hour-long symmetry crisis, but Kid seemed intent on getting the message through to them. As such, the whole thing only took about fifteen minutes, miraculously enough. When he was finished, the whole group crowded around the drawing.

About five feet in diameter and symmetrical to a tee, a perfect hexagon had been carved in the ground beneath them. Within the hexagon, tiny lines extended from each corner, meeting at one central point in the center of the shape. That was the extent of Kid's masterpiece, and he offered no further explanation. Instead, he stared at them all expectantly.

Another moment passed where everyone regarded the ground in silence. Soul looked up at the rest of the group to see if they were as confused as he was. Maka had her eyebrows furrowed, evidently still trying to piece everything together while Tsubaki watched Maka patiently, waiting for her to come up with the solution. Black*Star bore a striking resemblance to a baboon as he scratched his head idly, and Patty seemed to have lost interest, focused instead on making animal shapes with her hands and humming to herself. Hands on hips and a skeptical eyebrow raised, Liz was finally the first one to break the silence.

"You brought us here… to show us geometry," she said dryly, bringing a hand up to cover her face.

Everyone laughed except Kid, who frowned, his expression plainly stating that he thought geometry was a perfectly good reason for a field trip. He quickly pulled the plug on everyone's amusement when he said, "This is our experiment."

"We're all going to draw things?!" Patty said excitedly. Kid turned to her, his eyes growing slightly darker.

"No, Patty," he said, his eyes sweeping the group and then back down to the drawing. "We're all going to resonate."

Another stunned silence fell as everyone stared at Kid, dumbfounded. Everyone, that is, except for Maka, whose teeth had come to worry her bottom lip as her eyes roamed the drawing, trying to work out the puzzle.

Soul inhaled sharply, and then caught himself; luckily she didn't seem to notice, focused as she was. That damn lip bite. It was the thing that had gotten him into this whole mess, he thought somewhat bitterly. Clearly he hadn't become desensitized to it at all, either, he realized, as the dormant warmth in his chest began to surge more strongly than ever. Somewhere in the back of his brain, he realized it was getting worse. God, he was so screwed.

Meanwhile, Kid instructed them all to sit in a circle around the hexagon before he began his explanation. It dawned on Soul as they gathered around it that each point on the hexagon was placed perfectly in front of each of them. But if there was only room for six of them, then how-

"You're all familiar with the concept of chain resonance," Kid said, interrupting Soul's thoughts.

"Connecting multiple weapon and meisters' resonances to create a stronger level of resonance," Maka replied, sounding, as usual, as though she'd swallowed a textbook.

Soul wasn't following. Where the hell had chain resonance come from? They were supposed to be experimenting with _hybrid_ resonance, weren't they?

"As you know, we've accomplished chain resonance before," Kid continued. "But there has always been one glaring problem with that type of resonance. It's-"

"It's unstable," Maka whispered along with Kid. Soul stole a glance at her as a look of shocked comprehension crossed her features.

"Yes, it's unstable. But hybrid resonance is a stabilizing agent, right? It adapts an unstable resonance into a far more stable structure," Kid said, pointing at the hexagon. "What if we could combine them? The strength of chain resonance with the stability of hybrid resonance."

Soul's eyes settled on the central point of the drawing. So the seventh person would be the hybrid. Shit, if this worked, their resonance level could be incredible.

"But it wouldn't be that simple, would it?" said Liz. "You'd have to find someone that's compatible with everyone else's wavelengths."

"I'm not so sure about that," Kid replied. "Look at the way the current hybrid setup works. Soul and Black*Star's wavelengths aren't exactly compatible."

Soul chuckled inwardly at the last time Black*Star had tried to use him as a weapon, back when they'd fought Kid for the first time. Nope, definitely not compatible.

"It doesn't work like that, exactly," Black*Star said, earning a somewhat astonished glance from everyone. "It's not about compatibility. All that I do is give Soul and Maka's souls a place to pass through. You sort of… stay neutral."

"So, what you're saying is… all we need is one person who's strong enough to ground six resonance wavelengths at once," Maka said.

"Exactly," Kid replied. "Though it would probably help if they've had experience dealing with multiple wavelengths before."

Soul glanced up at Kid, since he was the obvious choice. He worked with two separate wavelengths all of the time. But inexplicably, Soul's gaze was met with an equally potent stare from Kid, and he suddenly realized that Kid wasn't the only one. Confusion and the smallest traces of embarrassment hit him as Soul realized the entire group's eyes had landed on him.

"What, _me?_" he said, nonplussed. "You can't be serious. I don't know anything about multiple wavelengths."

Maka laughed a little and smiled at him. "But you do. You played the piano."

Soul glared at them all in disbelief. Had they lost their minds? This was a terrible idea. It was ridiculous that playing piano with his soul _one time_ automatically qualified him for hybrid duty. Not to mention that his wavelength was completely unpredictable right now. Though… he supposed only he knew how out of control it really was. Well, Maka might have a small inkling, he thought as he brought his fingers up to rub his temples.

"Oh come on, just try it," Black*Star griped, rolling his eyes. "Your god will show you how it's done."

"When we find whoever took Crona, this could give us a serious advantage," Kid added slowly.

Soul groaned, hating that Kid had given him absolutely no way to decline. Why was it that every time something new happened with hybrid resonance, he was always the one holding everyone back?

"I'll do it," he said. No more hesitation, he thought, ignoring the way the warmth in his soul immediately blossomed at the mere thought of being connected with Maka's once more.

Suddenly Patty, who had been silent for the majority of the conversation, gasped and leaned over to whisper something in Liz's ear. Liz froze for a moment, and then the two of them burst out laughing, Patty kicking her legs against the dirt in utter mirth. Kid's resulting glower did nothing to shut them up.

"What?" Kid snapped after several seconds, throwing his hands in the air. "What is it?"

Liz's face slid into the most amused of smirks as she pointed to the drawing on the ground.

"Do you realize," she began slowly, drinking in her meister's reaction. "That you've found a way to make the number seven symmetrical?"

Kid's eyes bulged.

* * *

He couldn't lie; he was nervous as hell. Soul had no idea how this was going to go - he hadn't exactly figured out how to manage this bizarre jailbreak effect that his soul had suddenly become so fond of. He couldn't even control it when he wasn't resonating. Keeping his cool with six other wavelengths coursing through him would be pretty interesting.

The most difficult part would surely be the beginning, he knew, since they'd determined that in order to make chain resonance work, each pair would have to begin resonating on their own. That meant he'd have to endure a couple of seconds of resonance with Maka. No big deal, right? Just a couple seconds of perfect, toe-curlingly amazing resonance that may or may not make him lose control and end up pinning his meister back against the wall…

And it's thoughts like that that would make this entire plan to go up in flames. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He _will _stay cool, damnit.

"Remember," Black*Star said as they stood in a circle around the clearing. "Start with Maka's soul, but then… you're the anchor. Sense the other wavelengths and pull them in."

"You'd better be right about this," Soul scoffed. "You spew that 'dissolve in the darkness' assassin bullshit all of the time and that never works."

Black*Star laughed lowly and shot him one last look, silently taunting him not to screw this up. Soul ignored him and then turned to face Maka, trying to keep his nervousness from showing on his face. Her eyes were determined, and he thought he saw the smallest flash of excitement echoed back through them as the group chanted a collective "chain resonance."

_This is pretty nice, _he forced himself to think in the world's greatest example of an understatement as the flicker of her soul first twirled around his. He held his breath for a moment, closing his eyes, and then, putting aside every impermissible feeling Maka's wavelength elicited from him, he focused on the charge he could feel emanating between Black*Star and Tsubaki.

_It's right in front of you,_ Maka said in his mind, using Soul Perception to guide him. _You can do this._

Tentatively, letting his wavelength flow like tendrils of fog, he pushed his soul forward and let it snake towards the pair. That was one advantage, at least, of him acting as hybrid: he was quite familiar with the feel of his soul roaming out of his body. It felt like second nature, this mobility, the easiness with which his soul could manoeuver its way towards them. And then, when the friction humming along their link was just within his grasp, he paused, letting his wavelength dance around their connection for just a moment.

His eyes snapped open and he wrapped his wavelength around theirs, gasping as he felt the charge pass like a rush of heat through his heart. There it was, he thought as he struggled to stay calm, stay empty while all three wavelengths took root in his soul. He could almost feel the first link in the chain click soundly into place. Two counts of quiet jubilation from the girls passed along the link, and the half-patronizing pat on the back that came from Black*Star was so tangible that Soul could've sworn it had happened outside resonance.

Just one more, he thought, trying to adjust to the surges of energy that had started to pass through him as the wavelengths combined, weaving together. Turning his attention to the trio, his eyes slid shut a final time, and with slightly more effort, he started to send his soul along the air. The current passing between Kid, Liz and Patty was a different beast; between three souls, their resonance level was already higher than Black*Star and Tsubaki's had been.

Soul placed most of his focus on Kid, and spurred on by Maka and Black*Star's careful instructions, he inched forward. Finally, when the warm, muted flow of their resonance was close enough, he threaded his wavelength with Kid's.

Like the bolt being thrown on a lock, the trio's connection latched onto the link with a jolt, and Soul's fingernails dug into his palms as he tried to handle the sheer weight of the current that was centered entirely on his soul, all six wavelengths stretching and coursing through him with a potency that shocked him. He could imagine it, he thought as he stared at the image on the ground once more: each soul, connected by a central point, resonance coursing through all seven of them.

It was warm, and it was _bliss_, without a doubt, but it was manageable. If it had been only him and Maka resonating at this level, he would have lost control long ago. He still felt her wavelength the most strongly – that would forever be the case, he was sure – but it was easier to handle with everyone else's wavelengths present, a welcome distraction from the soft, blue heat of Maka's wavelength that was still far too inviting for his liking.

Plus, it was hard to truly pay attention to anything with all of the noise in his brain.

_"It really is fascinating how this-"  
"Weird, don't hear anything at-"  
"Soul? I can't-"  
"Tsubaki? TSUBAKI? CAN YOU HEAR ME?"_

Shit, he'd forgotten. As the hybrid, he was the only one getting _everyone's_ thoughts. He scrunched up his face, further convinced that Black*Star's voice was only a few decibels softer than a nuclear explosion.

_Everyone, just_, he thought urgently, bringing his hands to his ears instinctively as his head throbbed. _Hold on a second. And Black*Star, seriously, can you not-_

Kid waved his arms at Soul, cutting him off before he could properly infuriate Black*Star.

"Don't hurt yourself," he said aloud. "This is still better than we thought it would be. Try to cut it off."

Soul nodded, focusing again on the feel of the link. He remembered well the feeling of severing his soul from Maka's, and he imitated it – with a bit more force than usual, given the strength of the bond he needed to break.

The silence in his head had never been so welcome, and unthinkingly, he glanced up at Maka out of relief and met her eyes.

It was like water breaking through a dam. Unbidden, the floodgates reopened and his soul was surging forward faster than ever, desperately trying to connect with hers. The pull was so strong that he physically moved, falling forward with a lurch as his body tried to close the short distance between them.

Maka gripped on to the tree beside her, heels digging into the ground as she gazed down at him. He knew it was happening to her too; he could read it in her stance, in the way her fingers were curling against the bark. As they stood there, wrestling with themselves, tugging back against the current, his brain dimly registered the fear and confusion that crossed her face, but there was also something _else_-

_Stop!_ he thought as his soul made a final push and he slammed down on it, locking his wavelength inside his body and tearing his eyes from Maka. The entire thing must have only lasted about ten seconds, and it seemed the majority of the group hadn't even noticed.

He looked at Black*Star who, as usual, hadn't missed a beat. Actually, he noticed, the ninja's face had arranged itself into something that resembled genuine concern, scarily enough. Not even sure how to address what had just happened, Soul just shook his head at him slowly as Kid spoke again.

"It's getting dark," he said. He kicked at the dirt where the hexagon still lay, erasing the image. "You all should head back. I'll catch up to you."

Exhausted, Soul stole another glance at Maka and then headed off in the direction of camp. Night was beginning to fall, and the thickness of the trees was already casting shadows along that path that were too dark for his taste. As they walked, the forest fell into complete darkness and his footsteps trailed as his thoughts consumed him, pulling him a few feet away from the group.

What the hell had just happened? It had been bad in the cave, but that… he didn't know if he'd be able to hold back if that happened again. He had to figure out a way to fix it. Something was really wrong with their resonance, and he didn't know how-

Out of nowhere, a hand shot out of the blackness and grabbed his shoulder. Soul jumped, and his arm shot into scythe form, ready to slit the throat of whichever black blood-stealing asshole had finally come for him.

"Relax," said a voice, accompanied by two golden eyes that glinted in the darkness.

Oh, it was Kid, he thought, but he was still bemused as to why he was being dragged back into the forest so forcefully. Finally, after a second, Kid turned and rounded on him, radiating ascendency as he glared down at Soul.

"You need to tell me what's going on," he said. "All of it."

* * *

**Next chapter:** Will be written during my 48-hour trek back to AMERICA! Yes yes, the plot continues to thicken as Soul's sanity contines to wane. Won't be long now ;) Also, so much love to the 113 beautiful souls that read chapter 11 (that's what the view counter tells me, anyway :P). It makes me so happy that you're all reading. See you guys soon!


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